Attacks kill 7 Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad (AP)

BAGHDAD ? Two attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad killed seven people and wounded 33 others on Monday during an important religious ritual for the Muslim sect, Iraqi officials said.

In the first attack, a bomb exploded among Shiite pilgrims in Latifiyah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of the Iraqi capital, killing two of them and wounding three others, police said. A medical official confirmed the casualty toll.

Hours later, a car bomb exploded near a group of Shiite pilgrims in the town of Mahaweel as they were heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing five people and wounding about 30 other pilgrims, said police officials in Babil province.

Mahaweel is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Baghdad

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the are not authorized to talk to the media.

The ritual, known as Ashoura, marks the anniversary of the seventh-century death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. His death in a battle outside of Karbala sealed Islam's historical Sunni-Shiite split. To commemorate his death, hundreds of thousands of Shiites walk from around the country to Karbala.

Security is usually very tight in and around the city, so insurgents have taken to attacking the pilgrims during their long walk to and from Karbala when its much harder for the Iraqi security forces to protect them.

The pilgrims are often targeted by Sunni extremists who claim that Shiites are not true Muslims.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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