Shiite pilgrims targeted by suicide bomber

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims as they were resting Sunday during a days-long walk to a Shiite shrine, killing at least 40 people and wounding 60.\nThe attack in Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad, was the second of the day against pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala. The pilgrimage marks Arbaeen, the 40th day following the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of two revered Shiite figures buried there.\nThe suicide bomber detonated at a tent where pilgrims stop to eat and drink, police said.\nAt least 40 people were killed and 60 were wounded, the U.S. military said.\n“The blast devastated the entire tent,” which was up by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite Dawa political party, local official Saleh al-Massoudi said.\nIraqi police and U.S. troops quickly responded to the attack, which occurred on a two-lane highway outside a residential area south of Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. It said about 42,000 pilgrims had previously traveled through the area without incident.\nEarlier, extremists attacked another group of pilgrims with guns and grenades in the predominantly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, killing three and wounding 36,\n police said.\nThe attacks heightened tension around Arbaeen, when millions of pilgrims descend on Karbala, about 50 miles south of the capital.\nEarlier in the day, a steady stream of pilgrims – some carrying green, black or red banners – walked along a highway out of Baghdad en route to the shrine. Among them were many families, including black-robed women and children.\nIn Karbala itself, crowds already choked the streets though the culmination of event is Wednesday. Four million pilgrims were already in the city as of a couple of days ago, police said.\nPolice Chief Raid Shakir Jawdat has said 40,000 police officers and military troops are being deployed during this period because Shiite holidays have frequently been targeted by suspected Sunni insurgents.\nFor example, a parked car loaded with explosives was discovered and put out of action near Karbala, one of several potential attacks that have already been averted, \nJawdat said.\nFour million pilgrims were already in the city as of a couple of days ago, he said.\nElsewhere, extremists targeted U.S. patrols in two separate attacks in northern Baghdad, one of which killed a soldier and wounded three other troops and a civilian, the military said, without naming the victims. The second bombing wounded three soldiers, the military said.\nAn explosion also struck a minibus carrying electricity department workers in the northwestern city of Mosul on Sunday, killing two and wounding three, police said.\nIn Hawija, about 30 miles southwest of Kirkuk, a parked car bomb went off Sunday morning next to a patrol of Sunni tribesmen who aligned with U.S. forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq, police said. One civilian bystander was killed and 10 people were wounded, including seven tribesmen, police Brig. Sarhad Qadir said.\nPolice released new details about a suicide bomb attack Saturday that killed the leader of one Awakening Council in Saqlawiyah, a town in Anbar province 45 miles west of Baghdad. A group of gunmen first opened fire on a checkpoint, killing one police officer. Then three of the attackers armed with explosives belts stormed the checkpoint, two blowing themselves up and killing Sheik Ibrahim Mutayri al-Mohamaday. The other was killed.\nPolice said the two attackers were brothers from the area, and an Associated Press photographer on the scene said that their remains were identified by their father.