A female suicide bomber blew herself up yesterday among a crowd of pilgrims worshipping at a revered Shia shrine in northern Baghdad, killing at least 38 people and wounding about 72, the Iraqi army and police said.
The woman, wearing a traditional black cloak, approached the shrine of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, one of the holiest men in Shia Islam. She blew herself up while among a group of Iranian pilgrims in front of the main gate in the northern Shia neighbourhood of Kazimiyah.
"Around 16 Iranian pilgrims arrived here at this gate, they came from the market area and a few moments later a blast occurred," Mahir Abu Mahdi, a witness, told Associated Press Television News.
The attack came as Iraqi forces took the lead on security under an agreement with the US that went into effect on New Year's Day, and as Shia Muslims prepared to mark Ashura on 7 January. Falling on the 10th of Muharram under the Islamic lunar calendar, it is one of the most important holy days for Shia Muslims and marks the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein.
The first 10 days of the month of Muharram are often marked by pilgrimages to holy sites around Iraq, culminating at the Shia holy city of Kerbala. The city is home to the golden-domed mosques of Imam Hussein and his half-brother Imam Abbas. Hundreds of thousands are expected to pour into the city tomorrow and on Wednesday night for the pinnacle of the pilgrimage. The Iraqi army commander in Kerbala, Major General Othman Ali Farhood al-Ghanimy, said last week that thousands of foreign pilgrims had arrived, including many from Iran.
Although the suicide attack bore the hallmarks of the Sunni terror group al-Qaida in Iraq, other Islamic extremist groups have staged attacks on the day.
Among the deadliest assaults during Ashura were mortar attacks and bombings in Baghdad and Kerbala that killed nearly 200 pilgrims in 2004.
Last week, police in the southern city of Basra arrested a leading figure in a messianic Shia cult known as the "Soldiers of Heaven" that has battled with Iraqi and US forces during the holiday.
At least 72 people died, mostly cult members, in fighting with police in 2008. The group has sought to create chaos as a means of inspiring the return of the "Hidden Imam", also known as the Mahdi, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad who disappeared as a child in the ninth century. Shias believe that he will return one day to bring justice to the world.
In 2007, more than 200 members of the cult were killed in battles near the Shia holy city of Najaf as they sought to declare an Islamic state during Ashura.