At least 2 killed in suicide bomb attack against Shiite mourners in Baghdad

At least two people were killed and eight others wounded Saturday in a suicide bomb attack targeting a Shiite mourning tent in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source said.

The attack occurred before noon as a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest within the vicinity of a mourning tent in the Shiite neighborhood of Tobchi in the area of Eskan in central Baghdad, said the source on condition of anonymity.

The tent was prepared for the annual Shiite Muslim commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein, one of the Shiites' twelve most revered Imams, killed in 680 AD and buried in Karbala, 110 km south of Baghdad.

Shiite Muslims already commemorated the date of death of the Imam on Oct. 12, through a ritual called Ashura Day, however, they typically continue mourning untill the al-Arbaeen ritual, or 40 days after the Imam's death, which will be on Nov. 21.

The death toll may rise as ambulances and civilian vehicles evacuated the dead and wounded people to several nearby hospitals and medical centers, the source said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for similar suicide attacks against Shiite mourners observing their communal rituals in Iraq, in order to provoke sectarian strife in the violence-fraught country.

Terrorist acts and armed violent conflict killed 1,003 Iraqis and wounded 1,159 others in Sept. throughout Iraq, said the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

Many blame the current chronic instability in Iraq as well as the cycle of violence and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S., since it invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003. Endit