IED targets Shiite pilgrims in Ninewa

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: An improvised explosive device went off Monday targeting Shiite pilgrims in the northeast of Mosul, without causing any casualties, said a security source. “The bomb exploded targeting a number of Shiite pilgrims who were on their way to visit a local religious shrine in northeast if Mosul,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The bomb was planted on the road between al-Sada and al-Baawiera villages,” he added, noting that the explosion left no casualties. The Arbaeen pilgrimage, which falls today, 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 have started the long trek on foot for the Arbaeen pilgrimage. 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.   SH (P)/SR 1