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32 killed, 100 wounded in suicide bomb attack against Shiites in southern Iraq

14 January 2012 18:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The death toll from a suicide bomb attack against Shiite pilgrims in Iraq’s southern city of Basra on Saturday rose to 32 and some 100 pilgrims were wounded, a local police source said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Our latest reports put the toll at 32 killed and 100 others wounded by the suicide bomb attack in Basra," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The attack occurred at about 9:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police checkpoint among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims marching to a shrine in the town of al-Zubair south of the oil hub city of Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad, the source said.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene as ambulances and civilian cars evacuated the victims to nearby hospitals and medical centers, the source added.

Earlier, the source said that 27 pilgrims were killed and some 90 others wounded by the blast.

Shiite pilgrims mark a major religious ritual of Arbaeen in their cites on Saturday, while hundreds of thousands of people march from different Iraqi cities towards the holy Shiite city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad, to commemorate the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson who was killed at the battle of Karbala in 680 A.D..

Insurgents frequently attack Shiite pilgrims who perform communal rituals in Iraq, in attempts to provoke sectarian strife in the violence-shattered country.

Iraqi cities have been plagued by several attacks including suicide bombings, since the U.S. troops pulled out of the country earlier last month.