Baghdad, February 11: A car bomb exploded near a procession of Shiite Muslim pilgrims south of the holy city of Samarra on Thursday, killing nine people, including one child, and wounding 39 people, 5 of them children, a police official said.
The procession was headed for Samarra’s gold-domed shrine, where a bombing by insurgents in 2006 helped set off a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites in which tens of thousands of people were killed.
In the attack on Thursday, the car exploded around 1:30 p.m. near a tent where pilgrims had stopped for water and a meal, according to the police official.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his access to sensitive information.
The Askariya Shrine in Samarra marks the place where Imam Ali al-Hadi, who is revered by Shiites, was buried in A.D. 868. Six years later, his son Hassan al-Askari, another noted cleric, was buried there as well. Muhammad al-Mahdi, known as the Hidden Imam, is said to have gone into hiding near the shrine. Shiites believe he will return someday to bring justice to the world.
–Agencies