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February 3rd,
2010 - Iraq Bombing Kills at least 20 as Pilgrims Converge on Karbala |
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Iraq Bombing Kills
at least 20 as Pilgrims Converge on Karbala By Leila Fadel & Qais Mizher Washington Post February 3, 2010 Baghdad - At least 20 people
were killed and 117 were wounded Wednesday in an explosion just outside the
southern Iraqi city of Karbala, despite increased security measures put in
place during religious ceremonies this week. The bombing was the second
deadly attack on Shiite pilgrims in three days. On Monday, at least 41 people
were killed in northeast Baghdad when a female suicide bomber detonated her
explosives in a crowd of devout, Karbala-bound Shiites. They were among hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims who were walking to Karbala this week to commemorate
the 7th-century slaying of the grandson of the prophet Muhammad. The pilgrims
converge on the city, where Shiites believe the prophet's grandson is buried,
to mark the 40th day of mourning after the anniversary of his death. At 11 a.m. Wednesday, a
parked motorcycle loaded with explosives detonated, ripping through a crowd
of walking pilgrims on the city's northeast perimeter, a source from the
Ministry of the Interior in Baghdad said. At least 20 people were killed and
117 were wounded. The scene of the carnage,
near the Technical Institute, remained blocked off Wednesday afternoon.
Vehicles were stopped on the outskirts of the city and pilgrims walked the
rest of the way. Shiite religious ceremonies
have long been the target of attacks by militants whose intent seems to be to
widen the sectarian rift in Iraq. But the city of Karbala has largely been
unscathed in the past few years. Wednesday's bombings follow a
rare attack in the holy city of Najaf last month, and a small recent bombing
in a restaurant near a holy Shiite shrine in Samarra. If the resurgence of
bloody attacks on Shiite targets continue, the schism between sects could
widen, opening the door for Shiite militants to strike back. Special correspondent Saad
Sarhan contributed to this report from Karbala. © 2010 The Washington Post
Company External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020300415.html |