Iraq bomb attack targets Shiites on religious pilgrimmage
Over 70 killed in Iraq as a bomb blast made Wednesday one of the bloodiest days since the U.S. Troops left the country.
Sunni insurgents appear to have targeted Shiites celebrating a religious festival in Baghdad. This is the worst day of violence since early January, when four bombings killed 73.
Al Jazeera reports that at least 30 people were killed when four blasts hit pilgrims across Baghdad as they marched through the city to mark the anniversary of the death of Shi’ite imam Moussa al-Kadhim, a great-grandson of Prophet Mohammad.
One car bomb exploded outside a Baghdad Shi’ite mosque while another blast tore into groups of pilgrims as they rested at refreshment tents along the route to a shrine in Kadhimiya district.
“A group of pilgrims were walking and passed by a tent offering food and drinks when suddenly a car exploded near them,” said Wathiq Muhana, a policeman whose patrol was stationed near the blast in central Karrada district.
“People were running away covered with blood and bodies were scattered on the ground,” he said.
In the southern mainly Shia city of Hilla, two bombs, including one detonated by a suicide car bomber, exploded outside restaurants frequented by police, killing 22 people and wounding 38.
“When a minibus packed with policemen stopped near the restaurants, a car exploded near the bus,” said Maitham Sahib, owner of a restaurant in Hilla near the blast. “It’s heart breaking. It is just sirens, and screams of wounded people.”