51 pilgrims killed, wounded in Baghdad bombing

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Fifty-one persons were killed or wounded when a female suicide bomber blew herself up in northern Baghdad, an informed source said on Monday. “A female bomber blew herself up among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims who were heading to Karbala in Bob al-Sham area, northern Baghdad, killing 13 persons and wounding 38 others,” a spokesperson for the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC), Maj. Gen. Qassem Ata, told IraqiNews.com news agency. The pilgrims were heading on foot to the holy Shiite city of Karbala to celebrate the Arbaeen. The Arbaeen is a religious occasion marking the 40 th day after the death of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). SS (P) 2