Aftermath Sadr City blast, Shiite pilgrims in holy city
(7 Aug 2009) STORYLINE Al Hamza sqaure, Baghdad's Sadr City 1. Wide shot of damaged bus and people standing on the pavement looking at the damage 2. Damaged front of bus 3. Interior of damaged bus 4. Clothes and belongings on the bus 5. Close up of bloodstained plastic bag 6. Various of damaged interior of bus 7. Blown out windscreen 7.SOUNDBITE (Arabic) eyewitness "An IED exploded here and hit this bus, the driver and an old man were injured." 8. Wide of bus and young boys standing around on the pavement Karbala 9. Wide of Shiite pilgrims gathering between holy shrines of Imam Hussein (grandson of Prophet Mohamed) and Abbas (Hussein's brother) to celebrate the birthday of 12th Shiite imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi 10. Mid of pilgrims 11. Mid of pilgrims outside holy shrine of Imam Hussein 12. Pilgrims inside holy shrine 13. Mid of pilgrims 16. Exterior of pilgrims STORYLINE Iraqi police and medical officials say bomb attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims and worshippers on Friday have killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens more. A series of roadside bombs struck Shiite pilgrims returning from the southern holy city of Karbala to the Iraqi capital on Friday, killing at least seven people, Iraqi police and medical officials said. The first of three bombs targeted a minibus with pilgrims as it entered the Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City, a police official said. The blast killed four pilgrims and wounded eight others, the official said. The causalities were confirmed by a medical official. A short time later, two near simultaneous explosions near the Shaab football stadium in eastern Baghdad killed three pilgrims as they were walking home to Sadr City, said another police official. Elsewhere in the country, a police official said a parked car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, killing at least ten worshippers. The official said the bomb exploded Friday at about 1 pm (1000gmt) north of Mosul and dozens had been injured. The police official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to release the information to the media. The incidents were the latest in a series that targeted Shiites, raising concerns that insurgents are stepping up attacks, hoping to re-ignite sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007. Though violence has fallen off in Iraq in the past two years, US officials have repeatedly called the security gains fragile and cautioned that a waning insurgency still has the ability to pull off sporadic, high profile attacks. The latest attacks came as thousands of Shiite pilgrims continued to converge on Karbala on Friday. For the past few days, hundreds of thousands of devout Shiites have been travelling by foot or by vehicle to the holy city, 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Baghdad, to celebrate the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shiite imam, who disappeared in the ninth century. Devout Shiites call him the Hidden Imam and believe he will return as "the saviour" to restore peace and harmony. More than one (m) million pilgrims from throughout the Shiite world were expected to converge on Karbala for the celebrations. Shiites - who make up 60 percent of Iraq's estimated 26 (m) million people - have been the frequent target of sectarian violence, especially during important Shiite religious festivals. In 2007, the celebration known as Shabaniyah was tarnished when armed clashes broke out between followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and security forces controlled by rival Shiite groups. Last year, suicide bombers targeted pilgrims, killing more than two dozen people. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
