Three women suicide bombers struck a pilgrimage center in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, today (28th July) killing 32 and wounding at least 110 people. Another woman suicide bomber exploded her self in the midst of a Kurdish political protest rally in the northern city of Kirkuk killing another 25 and wounding about 190 persons as per reports last came in.
The bombings were the deadliest of this year, after June’17 explosion that killed 63 in Hurriyah, and has shaken public confidence, which was growing in recent times due to low terrorist and rebel activity.
A military spokes man of Baghdad, Brig.Gen. Quassim al-Mousswi said that three woman suicide bombers detonated themselves at about 8.00AM among the pilgrims heading for Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad to commemorate the death of eighth century saint. Most of the dead were children and women as per health and police officials.
In Kirkuk, which is the home to Kurds, Turkomen, and Arabs, curfew was clamped from 3.00pm to 6.00am in the city by the authorities. Police also found a car bomb nearby the site of explosion and defused it. After the explosion, Kurds opened fire on the offices of Turkomen political party, which opposes Kurdish claim on the city.
After the exit in 2003 of Saddam Hussein, who was from minority Sunni community, Shiite political parties have been encouraging pilgrimage gatherings to show their majority prowess. This has wounded the sentiments of Sunni religious extremist who had been targeting Shiite gatherings to provoke sectarian war.