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2 killed in car bomb attack against Shiite pilgrims in Iraq

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least two Shiite pilgrims were killed and some 30 others wounded on Thursday in a car bomb explosion in Iraq's northern province of Salahudin, a provincial security source said.

A booby-trapped car exploded near a Shiite mosque while the Shiite Muslims were commemorating a major ritual of Ashura in the town of Tuz Khurmato, some 90 km east of the provincial capital city of Tikrit, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The death toll could rise as many of the wounded people were in critical condition, the source said.

The pilgrims were performing the 10-day Ashura ritual, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, who was killed and buried in Karbala in 680 AD.

Many of the pilgrims planned to travel to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad, ahead of Ashura's culmination on Saturday.

Iraq has been witnessing the worst violence in years. Terrorism and violence have left more than 12,000 civilians dead and 23,000 others injured in 2014, making it the deadliest year since the flareup of sectarian violence in 2006-2007, according to a recent United Nations report. Endit