Violence Precedes Shiite Pilgrimage
Seven pilgrims heading to a major Shiite religious gathering were shot dead in a Sunni neighborhood, while a vehicle ban aimed at preventing attacks during two days of ceremonies emptied Baghdad's streets Saturday.
The seven victims were among a group of Shiites walking in western Baghdad on Friday night when assailants in a passing car sprayed them with gunfire, said police Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq. The Shiites had been heading to spend the night at site of the religious gathering in northern Baghdad.
The vehicle ban went into effect Friday night, the eve of two days of ceremonies to mark the death in 799 A.D. of Imam Moussa Kadhim, one of the 12 major Shiite Saints. The gathering takes place around the imam's shrine in Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad.
Last year, about 1,000 people died during the ceremonies when rumors of suicide bombers triggered a mass stampede on a bridge across the Tigris River. It was the biggest single-day death toll since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
At least 13 other people were killed Saturday around Iraq, including four Iraqi soldiers in a roadside bomb explosion.
In other developments:
No cars and very few people were seen on the Iraqi capital's streets except police and army vehicle patrols. Although residents were allowed to walk to work—Saturday is a workday in Iraq—most appeared to be staying at home. Two cars that ventured out of a lane into the main road were seen being stopped by police and turned back. The vehicle ban was to last until Monday morning.
The area around the shrine in Kazimiyah, however, bustled with activity. Shops sold T-shirts with portraits of Kadhim and cooking equipment was piled up in a stall that planned to distribute food to pilgrims. A government statement warned that weapons, cell phones and any type of bags, even plastic ones, were forbidden at the shrine.
The ceremonies were taking place during a major U.S.-Iraqi security operation to curb the rising Sunni-Shiite violence that has threatened the stability of the new government of national unity. Nearly 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi troop reinforcements are being deployed to Baghdad, a city of 6.5 million.
On Saturday, four Iraqi soldiers were killed and four wounded when a roadside bomb struck their convoy in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, police 1st Lt. Raed Jabir said.
A former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath party was shot dead near Diwaniyah.
Also Saturday, a police officer was gunned down in Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, and a sniper killed another policeman in the northern city of Mosul.