Baghdad Blast Targeting Shiites kills at least 13

Sun Nov 2, 2014 20:38:13

A car bomb blast targeting Shiites in Baghdad ahead of the major Ashura religious commemorations killed at least 13 people on Sunday, security and medical officials said.

The blast struck near a tent from which they were distributing tea and water in the Al-Ilam area in southwest Baghdad, also wounding at least 29 people, the sources said.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims will flock to the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala for Ashura, which marks the Martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam.

Pilgrims have been targeted during Ashura before, but this year's commemorations, which peak on Tuesday, face even greater danger, with the ISIS terrorist group in control of some areas of the country.

IS and other Sunni extremist groups frequently targets Shiite with bombings.

Bombings in the Baghdad area killed at least 24 people, just days ahead of major Shiite religious commemorations.

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