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Iraq blast kills Ahsura pilgrims Iraq blasts kill Ashura pilgrims
(about 1 hour later)
At least eight Shia Muslim pilgrims have been killed in a blast north-east of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. More than 20 Iraqi Shia Muslims have been killed in separate bomb attacks at the climax of the Ashura festival.
The deaths come at the climax of the Ashura religious festival, which has witnessed serious sectarian violence since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Police said a bomb left in a rubbish bin in centre of Khanaqin, north-east of Baghdad, killed at least 11 people.
Police said the pilgrims were travelling on foot to a shrine in north Baghdad when the blast occurred. Its causes are being investigated. People had been gathering at a local religious hall for ceremonies marking the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson in the 6th Century.
They were passing through the town of Khanaqin, in restive Diyala province. An hour later, a suicide bomber struck in Mandali, killing 12 worshippers.
The Associated Press has reported a second attack on pilgrims marking Ashura, an ambush on a bus in western Baghdad. Police said worshippers were gathered outside a Shia mosque when the man wearing a bomb vest detonated the explosives.
Police said seven people were killed by gunmen in Hay al-Amil district. They were also on their way to Kazimiya. Ashura has witnessed serious sectarian violence since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Both Khanaqin and Mandali lie near the Iranian border north-east of Baghdad. The area is ethnically and religiously mixed with a population of Kurds, and Sunni and Shia Arabs.
An estimated 2 million pilgrims have gathered in Karbala, south of Baghdad, for Iraq's main Ashura rituals.
There are no reports of violence there.