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Blast Kills 27 in Iraqi Shi'ite City of Karbala

   VOA News 05 February 2010
   Muslim Shiite pilgrims head from Baghdad to the holy city of Karbala

Photo: AFP

   Muslim  Shiite  pilgrims head from Baghdad to the holy city of Karbala
   to  take part in the Aabaeen, 40 days of mourning after Ashura, 03 Feb
   2010

   Iraqi  police say at least 27 Shi'ite pilgrims have been killed and 56
   wounded  in  a  bombing  on the outskirts of the holy city of Karbala,
   south of Baghdad.
   There are reports of both a car bomb and mortar attacks.
   The  bombing  is  one  of several that struck this week as hundreds of
   thousands  of  Shi'ite  pilgrims  flocked  to  the  city  on  the most
   important day of a Shi'ite pilgrimage, Arbain.  It marks the end of 40
   days  of mourning for the death of Imam Hussein, a revered 7th-century
   Shi'ite cleric.
   Wednesday,  a  motorcycle  bomb exploded as pilgrims made their way to
   Karbala,  and two separate roadside bombs targeted Shi'ite pilgrims in
   Baghdad.   These  attacks  killed  at least 24 people and wounded many
   others.
   And on Monday a female suicide bomber blew herself up among a crowd of
   Shi'ite  pilgrims  in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding
   more than 100 others.
   Sunni  insurgents  in Iraq have routinely attacked Shi'ite pilgrims in
   recent years in a campaign to ignite a sectarian conflict.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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