An Iraqi security command said a suicide bomber detonated the explosives-rigged vehicle, while other officials said it was a car bomb.They said several women and children were among the victims.

Such attacks are usually carried out by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS , ISIL , IS, Daesh) terror group.

ISIS perpetrated a similar attack against Shittes pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 23 people.

Many of the main thoroughfares in the city are closed in the days leading up to the annual commemoration of Imam Musa Kadhim's death, an important date in the Shiite Muslim calendar.

Imam Kadhim, the seventh of 12 imams revered in Shiite Islam, Martyred in 799 AD. The pilgrimage to his shrine in northern Baghdad has in recent years turned into a huge event that brings the capital to a standstill for days.

The main commemoration at the shrine in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighbourhood will take place on Tuesday.

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