Violence across Iraq left at least 26 people dead today, most of them Shia pilgrims attending mourning ceremonies, prompting fears of further sectarian attacks as Shia Islam's most solemn occasion looms.The deaths came three days before the climax of Ashura, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converge on Kerbala to mourn the killing of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, in a battle in 680AD that sealed the split between Shia and Sunni.
Violence across Iraq left at least 26 people dead today, most of them Shia pilgrims attending mourning ceremonies, prompting fears of further sectarian attacks as Shia Islam's most solemn occasion looms.
The deaths came three days before the climax of Ashura, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converge on Kerbala to mourn the killing of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, in a battle in 680AD that sealed the split between Shia and Sunni.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 23 people died in attacks across Iraq on Thursday, including a provincial leader and pilgrims observing a major Shi'ite religious ritual, police and officials said. Na'ma Jassim al-Bakri, a governing council member in the southern Babel province, was among 12 people killed in twin bomb attacks at a bus and taxi terminal in the provincial capital of Hilla, said Abu Ahmed al-Basri, another Babel councillor.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 23 people died in attacks across Iraq on Thursday, including a provincial leader and pilgrims observing a major Shi'ite religious ritual, police and officials said.
Na'ma Jassim al-Bakri, a governing council member in the southern Babel province, was among 12 people killed in twin bomb attacks at a bus and taxi terminal in the provincial capital of Hilla, said Abu Ahmed al-Basri, another Babel councillor.
