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Double suicide bombing hits Iraq

24 April 2009 16:13 (UTC +04:00)

The attack happened at the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine in the Kadhimiya area as people gathered for Friday prayers.
It comes a day after 84 people were killed in two separate suicide attacks in Baghdad and Baquba.
Many victims in Baquba and in Baghdad on Friday were Iranian pilgrims and the violence was condemned in Tehran.
Violence fell sharply in the last year and the latest bombing does not change this trend, but it is a worrying development, especially after Thursday’s attacks.
It was attacks like these that helped fuel the cycle of sectarian violence that took many thousands of lives in 2006 and 2007.
By carrying out the attack on a Friday when the shrine would be crowded with worshippers, the bombers aimed to maximise the number of casualties and the degree of sectarian provocation involved, he says.
Many Iraqis will be worried it could be a sign of worse to come when US troops complete their withdrawal, as they are supposed to do by 2011.