Bomb Strikes Pilgrims in Iraq for 3rd Straight Day

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Bomb strikes pilgrims in Iraq for 3rd straight day

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
August 16, 2008 5:19 AM EST
BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded Saturday as Shiite pilgrims were boarding minibuses in Baghdad, killing at least six people, officials said. It was the third consecutive day that extremists targeted travelers en route to the holy city of Karbala.

Despite the violence, hundreds of thousands of worshippers streamed toward the twin golden domed mosques amid tight security in the city south of Baghdad. Men and women filed through separate metal gates to be searched. The explosives-laden car blew up about 9 a.m. near minibuses assembled to pick up pilgrims in Baghdad's mainly Shiite district of Shaab.

It was the latest in a series of bombings targeting Shiites heading to Karbala for a major religious festival that culminates this weekend. The deadliest was a female suicide bombing on Thursday that killed at least 18 pilgrims resting on the side of the road south of Baghdad. A passenger van packed with explosives also blew up Friday night at a bus station in Balad, north of Baghdad where Shiite pilgrims had stopped for the night, killing four people and wounding dozens, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

The attacks have raised concern that extremists were seeking to re-ignite the firestorm of sectarian massacres that plunged Iraq to the brink of civil war two years ago before thousands of American reinforcements were rushed to the country.

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