Another Deadly Day In Baghdad
Police say back-to-back suicide bombings have killed at least 60 people outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad. Iranian pilgrims were among those killed.
Today's attacks are the latest in a string of high-profile attacks blamed on Sunni insurgents.
The blasts in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah come a day after nearly 80 people were killed in attacks, making it the deadliest day in Iraq in more than a year.
The suicide bombers Friday detonated explosive belts within minutes of each other near the gates of the tomb of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, an important Shiite saint, located in Baghdad's northern Kazimiyah neighbourhood, a police official said.
Police said the bombers struck shortly before the start of Friday prayers as worshippers streamed in to the mosque - an important site for Shiite pilgrims.
Police and hospital officials say 25 Iranian pilgrims were among those killed, and that 80 Iranians were among at least 125 people reported injured in the blasts.
The shrine has been a favored target of insurgents, most recently in early April when a bomb left in a plastic bag near the shrine killed seven people and wounded 23.
In January, a man dressed as a woman blew himself up near the shrine, killing more than three dozen people and wounding more than 70.
Imam Mousa al-Kazim is an eighth century saint, and one of 12 Shiite saints. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites march to the shrine in Kazimiyah every year to commemorate his death in A.D. 799. Shiites believe al-Kazim is buried in the Baghdad golden-domed shrine.
At least 87,215 Iraqis have been killed in violence since 2005, according to a previously undisclosed Iraqi government tally obtained by The Associated Press.
Combined with tallies based on hospital sources and media reports since the beginning of the war and a review of available evidence by the AP, the figures show that more than 110,000 Iraqis have died in violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
The Health Ministry death tally, provided by a government official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the data, counts deaths from the beginning of 2005 until Feb. 28. It excludes thousands of people who are missing and civilians who were buried in the chaos of war without official notice.
The figure includes only violent deaths - people killed in attacks such as shootings, bombings, mortar attacks and beheadings. It excludes indirect factors such as damage to infrastructure, health care and stress that caused thousands more to die.