Twin car bombs killed at least 40 people and wounded 145 others today in Iraq's holy city of Kerbala as hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims observed a major religious rite, health officials said.
The attack on the final and most important day of the Arbain festival was the third major strike this week against Shia pilgrims amid a political furore over the banning of candidates, many of them Sunnis, from a March 7th election.
Police said the bombings occurred on the outskirts of the city 80km south of Baghdad, but details were sketchy. Arbain marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who died in a 7th century battle at Kerbala.
Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply, but Shia gatherings are often attacked by suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents.
Banned under Saddam Hussein, Arbain and other Shia religious events have drawn millions of Shias not only from Iraq but also from neighbouring countries like Iran since the Sunni dictator was ousted in the 2003 US invasion.
A bomb planted on a cart pulled by a motorbike killed at least 20 Shia pilgrims on Wednesday as they streamed into Kerbala. More than 40 were killed on the outskirts of the capital on Monday as they began the long walk to Kerbala.
The bloodshed added to sectarian tensions that have been rising as a result of an election ban imposed on almost 500 candidates suspected of links to Saddam's outlawed Baath party.
Reuters