29 killed in suicide attack on Shiite pilgrims in Iraq's Diyala
BAQUBA. November 14. KAZINFORM - Up to 29 Shiite pilgrims were killed and some 60 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq 's eastern province of Diyala on Thursday, Kazinform has learnt from Xinhua.
"The latest reports said that 29 worshippers were killed and 60 others wounded by the suicide bomb attacks," the source said on condition of anonymity.
The attack took place around noon when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest among a procession of Shiite pilgrims at a village near the city of Sa'diyah, some 120 km northeast of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said.
Ahmed al-Zarkoushi, the mayor of Sa'diyah, confirmed the toll and told Xinhua that the suicide bomber was a young man disguised in police uniform.
The pilgrims were observing Ashura commemoration rituals that mark the death of Imam Hussein, one of the Shiite's 12 most revered Imams, who was killed in 680 AD and buried in Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad.
Insurgents frequently attacked Shiite pilgrims who perform communal rituals in the Iraqi cities, killing and wounding hundreds of them in attempts to provoke sectarian strife in the violence-shattered country.
Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 7, 000 Iraqis were killed and over 16,000 others injured from January to October this year.