Shiite pilgrims end major ritual amid tight security in Iraq

As millions of Shiite pilgrims on Thursday end their major religious rituals in the holy city of Karbala, officials continue to tighten security measures following a series of bomb attacks that killed 36 worshippers. More than three million Shiite pilgrims, including 60,000 pilgrims from Arab world and other countries, flocked into Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad, to commemorate the 10-day Ashura event, which culminated on Thursday. Ashura, meaning "10" in Arabic, takes place on the 10th day of Muharam, the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar, which is the date of the murder of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed and buried in Karbala in 680 AD. Iraqi security forces intensified security measures during the religious event in Karbala province as well as in Iraq's central and southern provinces, as tens of thousands of Iraqi security troops manned dozens of checkpoints and patrolled across the Iraqi cities. General Othman al-Ghanimi, chief of security forces responsible for Karbala and surrounding areas, told reporters that in his area more than 35,000 security members backed by helicopters participated in the plan of protecting the pilgrims. However, despite strict security measures, some bomb attacks still occurred against Shiite pilgrims who were observing the religious event in other provinces across the country, killing a total of 36 and wounding 86 others. The deadliest attack occurred around noon in Diyala province when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at a procession of Shiite pilgrims at a village near the city of Sa'diyah, some 120 km northeast of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing up to 29 pilgrims and wounding 60 others, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Ahmed al-Zarkoushi, the mayor of Sa'diyah confirmed the toll and told Xinhua that the suicide bomber was a young man disguised in police uniform. In the morning, another attack targeted Shiite worshippers near the town of Hafriyah, some 50 km southeast of Baghdad, when three roadside bombs detonated coordinately near a procession of Shiite pilgrims and killed seven pilgrims and wounded 24, a medical source from a local health office anonymously told Xinhua. Earlier, a police source put the toll at three killed and 14 wounded by one roadside bomb. In northern Iraq, two roadside bombs went off near a procession of Shiite pilgrims in the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, wounding two worshippers, one of them a 10-year-old child, a local police source told Xinhua. To commemorate Ashura event, black-clad Shiite pilgrims, men, women ,young men and children, pour successively in processions into Imam Hussein's mausoleum in Karbala waving green, black and red flags, beating their chests and heads in a demonstration of guilt and remorse for not defending Imam Hussein who was killed in Karbala in the seventh century. Insurgents frequently attacked Shiite pilgrims who perform communal rituals in the Iraqi cities, killing and wounding hundreds of them in attempts to provoke sectarian strife in the country. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the al-Qaida front in Iraq, in most cases, was responsible for such massive attacks, which raised fears that the militant group and other militia could increase the widespread violence. Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 7, 000 Iraqis were killed and over 16,000 others injured from January to October this year.