Deaths from Baghdad’s blast reach 26

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Deaths from the suicide bombing that targeted Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad earlier today have reached 16, a police source said on Monday. “Casualties from the suicide bombing that targeted a group of Arbaeen visitors have reached 26 dead and 38 wounded persons,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Earlier in the day, a security source said that 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. 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