Suicide bomber kills 38 near Iraqi shrine
A woman sets off the explosion amid a crowd as Shiite Muslims are making an annual pilgrimage to a Baghdad holy site.
Reporting from Baghdad — As Shiite Muslim pilgrims made their way to a holy shrine in Baghdad to mark one of the sect's most important religious holidays this morning, a female suicide bomber detonated explosives at a crowded checkpoint, killing as many as 38 people and wounding 72, Iraqi police said.
At least 17 Iranian pilgrims were among the victims, police said.
It was one of the capital's worst attacks in months and the second major bombing in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Khadimiya since Dec. 27, when a minibus exploded, killing 24.
Violence in Iraq has declined significantly, but suicide attacks remain a constant threat. U.S. military officials have warned that January could be a particularly violent month as the country prepares for provincial elections. Insurgents also may try to assert themselves as the United States hands over military control of the country to Iraqis in preparation for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.
Witnesses described a chaotic and tragic scene of dozens of dead and injured men, women and children -- most of them on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Khadim, who is considered the seventh imam of the Shiite sect. Thousands of pilgrims are visiting the holy site to mark Ashura on Wednesday, the anniversary of the death in 680 of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad.
"I saw the people lying on the ground," said Assad, who declined to give his last name. "They were like sheep more than human. Is that acceptable? Oh my God."
Heider abu Hussein, 32, who owns a bookstore near the site, said the bomber exploded like a flower from the middle of a crowd, sending people and body parts flying everywhere.
"Can anyone help us? Can anyone help us?" Hussein's friend Mohammed yelled into the chaotic crowd. "We need help here!"
The two friends began carrying people to safety when Hussein spotted an infant, maybe 2 months old, on the ground crying.
"Then I saw his mother," Hussein said. "She was moving in pain. She started to point at me. She couldn't speak. In her gesture, she was telling me to give her baby back. Then she collapsed. I thought she was dead."
The baby began vomiting blood and was bleeding from the stomach, where he had been struck by shrapnel. At the hospital, they discovered that his mother was alive but seriously injured. Unharmed relatives were able to take care of the baby, Hussein said.
