Iraq, August 07: A series of bomb attacks aimed at Shia pilgrims have claimed the lives of four people and left 18 others wounded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
According to an Iraqi interior ministry official, a roadside bomb at the entrance to Baghdad’s sprawling Sadr City ripped through a bus, killing three and injuring eight pilgrims returning from the shrine city of Karbala in central Iraq, AFP reported on Friday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, further added that the incident took place around 9:00 am (0600 GMT).
“I was inside my house when we heard an explosion, and all the windows of my house shattered,” local trader Abu Mohammed said. “The inside of the bus was covered in blood, the police took the wounded to Sadr City’s hospital for treatment.” he said.
“I saw women and old men, I don’t know why they attacked them,” the 27-year-old local resident Abbas Jumaa said. “They are only pilgrims and they don’t carry guns, so why would anyone attack them?”
Five other people, who were travelling in a minibus from Karbala, 100 kilometers (60 miles), south of Baghdad, were also injured following a second bomb attack which occurred at the edge of Sadr City an hour later.
According to the official, one other person was also killed and five others were injured in a separate roadside bomb attack at around the same time on a minibus carrying pilgrims in the Zayune neighborhood of central Baghdad.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in Iraq have been traveling in cars and on foot this week as Shias commemorate the birth anniversary of the twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi (PBUH), who disappeared centuries ago and will return to bring peace on earth.
—–Agencies