Coordinated bombs kill 56 during Iraq pilgrimage

Source: AP News

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Coordinated car bombs in four Iraqi cities targeting Shiite pilgrims killed at least 56 people and wounded dozens more early on Wednesday in Iraq's latest wave of sectarian-fueled violence, officials said.

The death toll was expected to rise in the attacks, which included car bombs that tore into Shiite religious processions at four different locations across Baghdad. It was the third attack in the capital this week targeting the annual pilgrimage commemorating the 8th century death of a revered imam.

Two police officers said the first bomb struck pilgrims in a procession at around 5 a.m. in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Taji, killing seven and wounding 22 people.

Within hours, three more explosions hit other processions in different parts of the Iraqi capital, killing at least 19 more people and wounding more than 50, police officers said. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

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