Attack on Iraq pilgrims kills 53, scores injured

BASRA, Iraq — A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded scores in an attack on pilgrims at a checkpoint yesterday.

The bombing at the end of Arbain, one of the main religious observances, was the worst such incident this year, amid a political crisis and renewed fears of a resurgence of sectarian violence.

“A terrorist wearing a police uniform and carrying fake police ID managed to reach a police checkpoint and blew himself up among police and pilgrims,” said a police official at the scene of the bombing.

The pilgrims had been on their way to a major mosque to the west of Basra, police said.

Security forces sealed off the main hospital in Basra, fearing further attacks as soldiers, police and civilians rushed blood-covered victims to the hospital. Some of the wounded were stuffed into car trunks.

Hundreds of wailing relatives packed into the city morgue searching for casualties. One woman lay on the floor screaming for her dead son and covering her head with dust from the ground in a traditional expression of grief.

Riyadh Abdul-ameer, director of the Basra health office, said the blast killed 53 people, with another 130 wounded. Other officials had earlier put the toll at 32 to 35 dead with 90 to more than 100 wounded.

There has been a repeated target of militants since the Us-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Hundreds of thousands have flocked to Kerbala from across Iraq, as well as Iran and other countries in recent days. The observance reached its peak yesterday.

Scores of people have been killed in attacks on pilgrims in the last few weeks, including a suicide bombing which killed at least 44 people.

Many of the incidents involved methods such as suicide bombings, the signature of Iraq’s Al Qaeda affiliate.

Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki’s government has issued an arrest warrant for a vice-president, triggering a political crisis that risks scuttling a power-sharing agreement among factions.

Violence had declined since the height of sectarian slaughter in 20062007, when thousands were killed in intercommunal strife. But the withdrawal of the last American troops in December has stirred worries of a resurgence.

Meanwhile, Al Maliki has voiced criticism of Turkish “interventions” in Iraqi affairs, warning that Turkey itself would suffer if its actions sparked conflict in the Middle East.

His remarks come amid a political row in Iraq, with authorities charging Vice-president Tareq al Hashemi with running a death squad. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his concerns over the deadlock to Maliki in a telephone conversation last week.

Hashemi, who is currently holed up in Iraq’s Kurdish region, has mooted the possibility of going to Turkey, even though officials have barred him from overseas travel. — Reuters/afp