Bomb strikes Shi'ite pilgrims

2008-08-16 19:03

Baghdad - A car bomb exploded on Saturday as Shi'ite pilgrims were boarding minibuses in Baghdad, killing at least six people, officials said, in a third straight day of attacks on travellers heading to a religious ceremony in Karbala.

Despite the violence, hundreds of thousands of worshippers streamed toward the twin golden domed mosques of Karbala, a Shi'ite religious centre 80km south of Baghdad. Men and women filed through separate gates to be searched.

The explosives-laden car blew up about 09:00 near minibuses picking up pilgrims in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite district of Shaab.

It was the latest in a series of bombings targeting Shi'ites heading for the Karbala festivities, which culminate on Sunday. The deadliest attack came on Thursday when a female suicide bomber killed at least 18 pilgrims resting on the side of the road south of Baghdad.

On Friday, a passenger van packed with explosives blew up at a bus station in Balad, north of Baghdad. The Balad hospital director, Qassim Hatam al-Qaisi, said nine people were killed and 40 were wounded.

The attacks have heightened concern that extremists are seeking to re-ignite the firestorm of sectarian massacres that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war two years ago before thousands of American reinforcements were rushed to the country.

US-backed Iraqi troops have stepped up security measures for the pilgrimage, but travellers remain vulnerable on the road.

Iraqi soldiers, meanwhile, arrested the head of a US-funded Sunni group who was accused of "supporting terrorism" in a series of raids in the western Baghdad district of Jihad.

An Iraqi officer, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, identified the suspect as Tahir Abdullah al-Hamdani, the head of the so-called awakening council in Jihad.

The US military confirmed that a leader of the group was arrested but declined to identify him or give more details.

- AP