A car bomb targeted Shiite pilgrims in an area near Baghdad Saturday, killing at least 24 people and wounding at least 38, security and medical officials said.
The bomb was left on a road in the Nahrawan area used by Shiite pilgrims who are walking to the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in northern Baghdad for annual commemorations.
Imam Kadhim (PBUH), the seventh of 12 imams revered in Shiite Islam, martyred in 799 AD. Every year Millions of pilgrims from Iraq and neighborhood countries travel there to commemorate the martyrdom of the revered Imam.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the ISIS group frequently targets members of Iraq's Shiite majority, whom it considers heretics.
Last year's pilgrimage was also marred by attacks against worshipers that killed at least 13 people.
ISIS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces and backed by allies have since regained significant ground.
The extremists still control a large part of western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent attacks against both civilians and security forces in government-held areas.
A car bomb targeted Shiite pilgrims in an area near Baghdad Saturday, killing at least 24 people and wounding at least 38, security and medical officials said.
A car bomb targeted Shiite pilgrims in an area near Baghdad Saturday, killing at least 24 people and wounding at least 38, security and medical officials said.
source : abna24
