Shiite pilgrims hit again
Source: Agencies |
June 17, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CAR bombs targeting religious processions in Iraq's capital killed at least 26 people yesterday on the last day of a Shiite pilgrimage already hit three times in some of the deadliest violence since American troops withdrew, police said.
The blasts were latest in a fierce wave of terror attacks on the annual pilgrimage that sees hundreds of thousands visit the shrine to an eighth-century Shiite imam in northern Baghdad. Last Wednesday, 72 people died in nearly two dozen coordinated bombings targeting pilgrims across the country. Al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq yesterday claimed responsibility for that attack.
Al-Qaida has been unleashing attacks every few weeks, trying to weaken the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and spark another round of the sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war only a few years ago. While fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has generally eased off, al-Maliki's government has been plagued by sectarian tension since before the last US troops withdrew six months ago.
The first car bomb exploded just after noon near a throng of pilgrims streaming through the Shiite neighborhood of Shula in the north of the city, heading toward the shrine to Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. At least 14 people were killed in the blast and 46 others were wounded, police said.
The blasts were latest in a fierce wave of terror attacks on the annual pilgrimage that sees hundreds of thousands visit the shrine to an eighth-century Shiite imam in northern Baghdad. Last Wednesday, 72 people died in nearly two dozen coordinated bombings targeting pilgrims across the country. Al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq yesterday claimed responsibility for that attack.
Al-Qaida has been unleashing attacks every few weeks, trying to weaken the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and spark another round of the sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war only a few years ago. While fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has generally eased off, al-Maliki's government has been plagued by sectarian tension since before the last US troops withdrew six months ago.
The first car bomb exploded just after noon near a throng of pilgrims streaming through the Shiite neighborhood of Shula in the north of the city, heading toward the shrine to Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. At least 14 people were killed in the blast and 46 others were wounded, police said.
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