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Iraq: More Shiite Pilgrims Killed Shiite Pilgrimage Is Target of Attacks in Iraq
(about 4 hours later)
Shiites making pilgrimages in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday by gunmen and suicide bombers, medical and police officials said. Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Pakistani Shiites traveling from Samarra to Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 11, officials said. And in Diyala Province in northern Iraq, a policeman guarding Shiite pilgrims noticed a person he suspected was a suicide bomber trying to infiltrate the crowd, the officials said. When the officer grabbed him, the attacker detonated his explosives, killing the officer and four other people. About 70 people were killed Monday in a series of attacks, including one on Shiite pilgrims who were pulled from a bus and shot. The violence this week helped put December on track to become one of the bloodiest months in the country in five years. BAGHDAD — Shiite Muslims making one of their most important pilgrimages in Iraq were targeted again on Wednesday by gunmen and suicide bombers, medical and police officials said.
Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Pakistani Shiites traveling from Samarra to Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 11, officials said. In Diyala Province in northern Iraq, a policeman guarding Shiite pilgrims noticed a person he suspected was a suicide bomber trying to infiltrate the crowd, medical and security officials said. When the officer grabbed hold of him, the attacker detonated his explosives, killing the officer and four other people.
Many Shiites from Iraq and other countries are making their annual pilgrimage to the city of Karbala for Arbaeen, which marks the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
The pilgrims typically travel by foot or vehicles over long distances to reach shrines in Karbala and other places, stopping on roadsides to eat or rest in tents set up for them. In previous years, the pilgrimage has also been marred by attacks, as Iraq struggles with sectarian divisions.
In other violence, two policemen were killed at a checkpoint in Anbar Province, in western Iraq, when a suicide car bomber blew himself up, according to an Interior Ministry official.
The killingson Wednesday pushed the weekly toll even higher. About 70 people were killed Monday in a series of attacks, including one on Shiite pilgrims who were pulled from a bus and shot on the roadside.
The violence this week followed 19 killings over the weekend, putting December on track to become one of the bloodiest months in the country in five years.

Christine Hauser contributed reporting from New York City.