Eight Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims killed in bomb blast

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Eight Shi'ite pilgrims marking the climax of the annual Ashura religious ceremony were killed on Tuesday in an explosion as they walked in procession through a street in a town northeast of Baghdad, police said.

Police said it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, which also wounded 30 people. The town of Khanaqin is near the Iranian border and is ethnically and religiously mixed, with a population of Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites.

The focus of Ashura is the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala south of Baghdad, where an estimated 2 million pilgrims have gathered to mourn the death in battle of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson there 1,300 years ago. Shi'ites in other towns also mark the occasion.

There have been no reports of violence in Kerbala. About 11,000 police and soldiers have been deployed to guard against any attack by Sunni insurgents, who have targeted the event, the highpoint of the Shi'ite religious calendar, in the past.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30382993.htm

Bomb kills 13 in Iraq during Ashoura
BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 13 people were killed Tuesday after a bomb left in a garbage can struck Shiites during ceremonies marking Ashoura in a town near the Iranian border, police said. At least 39 were wounded.

The explosion hit as scores of Shiites were gathered in downtown Khanaqin performing rituals on the holiest day on the Shiite Islamic calendar, a commemoration of the 7th-century death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The major religious festival culminates on Tuesday.

Police Maj. Idriss Mohammed said at least 13 people were killed and 39 were wounded, adding that most of the victims were Shiite Kurds. Most Kurds are Sunni but a minority are Shiite.

link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[maddezmom]

1. and another attack: Gunmen ambush bus carrying Shiite pilgrims on holy day in Baghdad, killing 7

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims marking Ashoura on Tuesday, killing at least seven people and wounding seven, police said.

The armed men drove by the bus in two cars and opened fire on the occupants, then sped away, police said. The attack occurred about 10:30 a.m. in the western district of Hay al-Amil, a religiously mixed area.

Police said the pilgrims were heading north to Kazimiyah, which is home to the most important Shiite mosque in the capital. At least seven people were killed and seven others wounded, police said.

link: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/30/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Violence.php

[maddezmom]

2. Sky News reporting from AP wire: Suicide bomb kill 12 in attack on Shia Mosque

in Madali, Iraq

[maddezmom]

3. reuters link

Ashura suicide bomber kills 12 near Baghdad
30 Jan 2007 10:10:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up among Shi'ite worshippers marking the climax of the Ashura religious festival in a town northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

Police said the worshippers had gathered outside a Shi'ite mosque in Mandali, a town close to the Iranian border, when a man wearing a bomb vest detonated himself. The blast also wounded 14 people, they said.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30404459.htm

[maddezmom]

6. DEATH TOLL IN SUICIDE BOMB AT MOSQUE NORTHEAST OF BAGHDAD RISES TO 23 - DOCTOR

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR038207.htm

[maddezmom]

4. Attacks on Shiites kill 31, wound 82

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A string of attacks on Shiite pilgrims on the final day of the Ashura holiday killed at least 31 people and wounded another 82.

In Balad Ruz, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Ali al-Akbar mosque, killing at least 12 people and wounding 40 others, an official with Baquba police said.

Balad Ruz is about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad.

In southwestern Baghdad, two cars filled with gunmen opened fire on a minibus of Shiite pilgrims in the Amil neighborhood around midday Tuesday, killing seven people and wounding another seven, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.

link: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/30/tuesday/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[maddezmom]

5. Gunmen kill 4 Shi'ites during Ashura in Baghdad

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on Shi'ite pilgrims gathering to mark the climax of Ashura in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, killing four and wounding six, a police source said.

The attack happened in Bayaa district in the capital.
http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30412253.htm

[Eugene]

7. AFP: More than 50 dead as Iraq Shiites mark Ashura

More than 50 dead as Iraq Shiites mark Ashura

by Jay Deshmukh

20 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least 55 people have been killed in vicious tit-for-tat sectarian
attacks in Iraq as hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims observed an annual mourning
ritual that culminated on Tuesday.

With Shiites marking the final day of the 10-day Ashura mourning ceremony, Shiite Islam's
holiest dates, dozens came under bomb attacks, mainly in the restive province of Diyala,
northeast of Baghdad.

-snip-

Shiite Muslims observing Ashura have become a regular target of Sunni extremists.

But later Tuesday, several mortar rounds also slammed into Baghdad's restive Sunni district
of Adhamiyah, killing at least 10 people, police said.

A medic from a local hospital said the toll was likely to rise.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070130/wl_afp/iraq_070130171824

Also, 21 dead bodies were found around Bagdad according to the Reuters Factbox:
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Jan 30