5 killed, 167 injured in attacks on Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Casualties from the two explosions that took place on Wednesday in al-Aadhamiya region, northern Baghdad, went up to 5 dead and 167 wounded, according to a security source. “The bomber who blew himself up amid a group of Shiite pilgrims who were heading for Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine near Jisr al-Aiema (Bridge of Imams) in al-Aadhamiya region, northern Baghdad, injured 131 persons, while casualties from the explosion that occurred in Baghdad al-Jadieda region has increased to five dead and 36 injured,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. A security source had said on Wednesday (July 7)  that a bomber blew up an explosive belt strapped to his body amid a group of Shiite pilgrims heading for Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine near Jisr al-Aiema (Bridge of Imams) in al-Aadhamiya region, northern Baghdad, killing 28 pilgrims and injuring 68. Tens of thousands of Shiite worshippers streamed into the Iraqi?capital earlier in the day amid heavy security for the pilgrimage, a?day after six people were killed in violence. In April 2009, two female suicide bombers detonated their payloads near the shrine, killing 65 people, including 20 Iranian pilgrims, and wounding 120 others. Shiites throughout Iraq and from the worldwide are heading for the al-Kadhimiya City in Baghdad on the occasion of the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim’s anniversary. Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, (Seventh of Safar, 128 AH- Twenty-fifth of Rajab, 183 AH) (Approximately: October 28, 746 AD-September 1, 799 AD), the seventh of the Twelve Shiite Imams. Imam Kadhim was the son of the sixth Shiite Imam, Ja’far al-Sadiq, and his mother’s name was Hamida Khatoon. He was born during the power struggles between the Umayyad and the Abbasid dynasties. In 795, Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid imprisoned Moussa al-Kadhim. Four years later, he ordered Sindi ibn Shahiq to poison him. He died in a prison in Baghdad in 799 and was buried in Baghdad’s al-Karkh district in an area named after him: al-Kadhimiya. A stampede on Jisr al-Aiema (Bridge of Imams), leading to the tomb of Imam Kadhim in the town in 2005 killed more than 1,000 people and wounded 300 others, also causing part of the bridge to collapse. SH (S)/SR 2