2 civilians wounded in second southern Baghdad attack

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Two civilians were wounded in an armed attack by unidentified gunmen targeting pilgrims going on foot to the holy Shiite city of Karbala to visit Imam al-Hussein Shrine, the second in southern Baghdad Saturday, an Iraqi police source said. “The gunmen opened small arms fire at pilgrims in the area of al-Mahdiya, al-Dora neighborhood, southern Baghdad, wounding two,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Meanwhile, an Iraqi police source told IraqiNews.com that a home-made bomb planted by unidentified persons on the main road in al-Sayyediya went off while pilgrims were heading on foot to Karbala to visit Imam al-Hussein shrine on the occasion of the arbaeen , killing one person and wounding four others. “The security forces sealed off the explosion site and rushed the wounded to the nearby al-Yarmuk hospital for treatment,” the source added. The arbaeen pilgrimage is a religious occasion marking the 40th 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 Hijri year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from inside and outside Iraq were flowing on foot into the city for the holy rituals. Tight security measures have been in force and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in Iraq’s holy sites in preparation for the occasion. Karbala, said to be housing the tombs of Imam al-Hussein and his brother Imam al-Abbas, lies 130 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S) 2