Tweet
24 January 2011
Last updated at 02:39 ET
At least six people have died and 10 have been injured in a bomb attack on the edge of the Iraqi city of Karbala.
Authorities said that the blast took place at a car park filled with buses carrying Shia pilgrims to the holy city.
In a separate incident, Iraqi police have said that two roadside bombs exploded in the capital, Baghdad.
Two officials were killed in one bomb attack and at least eight were injured in the second.
A brigadier general who worked in the Council of Ministers was killed and in the second blast, in Gazaliya, northern Baghdad, an officer died.
In the Karbala attack, the bomb exploded at a bus terminal at the al-Ibrahimi area, 12.5 miles (20km) east of the city, according to a provincial chief quoted by AFP.
Karbala is 55 miles (90km) south of Baghdad, the site of annual religious rituals that mark the 7th-Century death of one of the Shia sect's most revered figures, Imam Hussein. Millions of pilgrims had gathered in the city to mark the end of Arbaeen, a 40-day mourning period.
Last week, three suicide bombers killed 56 and wounded at least 180 along pilgrim routes to the city.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says the authorities were well aware of the dangers, as previous pilgrimages have been attacked.
Strict security measures are in place, but protecting vast numbers of people travelling on foot over large areas has proven exceptionally difficult, our correspondent says.
Business | Christians | Coupons | Discussions | Gamers
Legal | Politics | Sports | Teens | Webmasters
Authorities said that the blast took place at a car park filled with buses carrying Shia pilgrims to the holy city.
In a separate incident, Iraqi police have said that two roadside bombs exploded in the capital, Baghdad.
Two officials were killed in one bomb attack and at least eight were injured in the second.
A brigadier general who worked in the Council of Ministers was killed and in the second blast, in Gazaliya, northern Baghdad, an officer died.
In the Karbala attack, the bomb exploded at a bus terminal at the al-Ibrahimi area, 12.5 miles (20km) east of the city, according to a provincial chief quoted by AFP.
Karbala is 55 miles (90km) south of Baghdad, the site of annual religious rituals that mark the 7th-Century death of one of the Shia sect's most revered figures, Imam Hussein. Millions of pilgrims had gathered in the city to mark the end of Arbaeen, a 40-day mourning period.
Last week, three suicide bombers killed 56 and wounded at least 180 along pilgrim routes to the city.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says the authorities were well aware of the dangers, as previous pilgrimages have been attacked.
Strict security measures are in place, but protecting vast numbers of people travelling on foot over large areas has proven exceptionally difficult, our correspondent says.
Business | Christians | Coupons | Discussions | Gamers
Legal | Politics | Sports | Teens | Webmasters