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BAGHDAD - A woman suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding scores of others after the government announced new measures to protect worshippers ahead of a major religious festival.
Also Thursday, the US military announced that six Navy guards face trial for allegedly assaulting prisoners and releasing pepper spray into a cellblock following a disturbance at the main US prison in Iraq.
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An Iraqi soldier provides security as Shiite women arrive for a major religious festival in Karbala, Iraq, Thursday, August 14, 2008. The Shabaniyah festival, which climaxes over the weekend, marks the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shiite imam who disappeared in the 9th century, and security will be tight as such festivals have often been targeted by militants from al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's deadliest Sunni terror group. [Agencies]
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The woman bomber detonated her explosives among a group of pilgrims resting by the side of a road in Iskandariyah, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold 30 miles south of Baghdad. Women were cooking dinner, men were praying and children were playing nearby when the attacker struck, a witness said.
"Minutes after I passed the resting spot, I heard a big explosion. I turned my head and saw big flames," said Ahmed al-Saadi, a 34-year-old carpenter from Baghdad's Sadr City district. "We rushed to the scene and saw charred bodies, while wounded people were crying for help. Pots and burned prayer rugs were scattered all over the place."
There were conflicting casualty tolls as is common in such attacks where bodies are mangled and idenitication is difficult.
The US military put the death toll at 17, including one policeman and 16 civilians, and said a lone woman bomber was responsible. A senior provincial security officer said 26 people were killed and 75 wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the figure.
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