Global General

Up to 54 pilgrims killed, 359 wounded in Baghdad bombings

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-08 17:04

Shi'ite pilgrims pray at the Shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district July 7, 2010. [Agencies]

BAGHDAD - The casualties from a series of bomb attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims during the past 24 hours in Baghdad rose to 54 killed and some 359 others injured, an Interior Ministry told Xinhua on Thursday.

"A total of 51 pilgrims were killed and 318 others wounded from Wednesday's attacks, including the suicide bombing of Adamiyah district in northern Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

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On Thursday morning, a roadside bomb went off near a passing procession of Shiite pilgrims in the Mashtel neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad, killing three pilgrims and wounding 31 others, the source said.

Elsewhere, 10 Shiite pilgrims were wounded when a booby-trapped car detonated near their procession in the al-Eilam neighborhood in southwestern the capital, the source added.

The pilgrims of both the processions of Thursday's attacks were marching on foot returning to their homes after they participated in the observation of one of the major Shiite rituals in the holy Shiite district of Kadmiyah, he said.

About one million pilgrims from Baghdad and other provinces are expected to gather near the Imam Mussa al-Kadhim shrine in Kadhmiyah district for the annual commemoration of the death of the seventh of the most sacred 12 Shiite Imams.