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Hadi Mizban / AP
Victims of Thursday's car-bombing in Iraq were returned from the Shiite festival of Arbaeen, which is shown in Karbala.
Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET -- A car-bomb explosion tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims returning home Thursday from a religious commemoration, killing at least 27 and reinforcing fears of renewed sectarian violence, according to Iraqi officials.
The blast erupted late in the afternoon in the town of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of the Iraqi capital. It targeted worshipers returning from the Shiite holy city of Karbala following the climax of the religious commemoration known as Arbaeen.
Children were among the 20 people confirmed killed, according to a police official. At least 60 people were wounded.
The bomb went off in the middle of a gathering of pilgrims changing buses coming from Karbala on their way to other destinations in the country, according to police.
Wave of attacks kills more than 100 in Iraq
"The explosion shook the whole block and smashed the windows of my house," said teacher Ibrahim Mohammed, who lives nearby. "I ran to the scene of the explosion only to find charred bodies and burning cars. There were women screaming and searching for their missing children."
Ali Sabaar, a pilgrim who said he witnessed the explosion, also described a horrific scene.
"I was getting a sandwich when a very strong explosion rocked the place and the blast threw me away," he said. "When I regained my senses and stood up, I saw dozens of bodies. Many cars were set on fire. I just left the place and didn't even participate in the evacuation of the victims."
A deadly car bombing in Baghdad in December was part of a recent wave of violence in Iraq had killed at least 26 people across the country by late in the month. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.
Thursday marked the height of Arbaeen, when hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged on Karbala to mark the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Shiite pilgrims are one of the favorite targets for Sunni insurgents during Shiite religious events.
Bus blast kills more than 30 during Eid holiday
Iraqi authorities typically tighten security in Karbala and along routes used by pilgrims, but security forces acknowledge they are unable to prevent all attacks.
As in previous years, the pilgrims practiced the ritual of self-flagellation on the streets, hoisted Shiite religious flags on trees and lamp posts and served food from tents pitched on street corners.
Zaid Mohammed, a 21-year old student, said he walked to Karbala from a nearby city to show his deep respect for Imam Hussein.
"All the people came here to show their gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by Imam Hussein while fighting injustice," he said. "We have decided to confront all the security risks that we might face on our way to Karbala."
State television earlier Thursday aired video of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki walking among the pilgrims.
Arbaeen has been a frequent target for militants since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, who banned Shiite festivals.
At least 70 killed during religious festival
The latest violence followed nearly two week of protests against Maliki by thousands of people from the minority Sunni community in the western province of Anbar.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Holy Shiite!
20 dead and 200 with Shiite in their pants!
Evil people.
good
"A car-bomb explosion tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims returning home Thursday from a religious commemoration, killing at least 20"
What sort of brave Shiites are to be targetted during their pilgrimage?
They form at least 50 percent in Iraq. May be they are brave when it comes to women, minorities and unarmed people!
Sunnis are also big seventh century Islamic nut cases.
When they have to kill, can't they kill more than 1000 such that the "infidel" Shiites pilgrimages are stopped?
I come here everyday and still have not seen anything on NBC or MSNBC or MSN about Iraq's president dieing 2 weeks ago.
Or about the new president not being allowed to enter Iraq because he ran death squads.
To me that seems like important news.
Suggestion: Have your religious commemoration in some other way. You don't have to go to frikin Karbala. Have it in your own communities and mosques. You are only making yourself a huge target by doing this.
This stuff will only continue as it has over there for thousands of years. The only thing each group can do is minimize it by doing, in part, the above suggestion.
The sad thing is the bomb may have been the work of Shiites wanting to start sectarian violence.
All in all it appears that Iraq has rejoined the Muslim countries in the ME.
At least no American soldiers were killed. The Shiites and Sunnis have been fighting and killing each other since Muhammad died. They're not going to stop anytime soon and there is no power on earth that can make them stop. Let them run their course as long as they keep the violence confined to themselves and soundly smite them when they don't. So the president of Iraq died, BFD. Who really gives a Shiite?
But I thought that was why GWB, Cheney, and Rumsfeld created the fake excuses to invade Iraq. There have been more killings between Shiite, and Sunni since the invasion than there was before; and even what few Christians are left in Iraq are not safe. The Repubs complain about the budget deficit, well this is where it all started, along with his tax breaks for the millionaires and their companies.
Religion of pieces of people on the ground.
Speed kills but apparently not as fast as religion.
we didnt need to go there given enough time they will kill each other off!
The religion of piece blowing other members of the religion of piece to pieces, gotta love it. Thanks for the help, peace out!!
Anti stupidity......... It is spelled P E A C E .
MC Gusto
First it's Antistupidity, I can spell it any way I want, I claim poetic license, second you obviously don't understand sarcasm
An no firearm was involved....... start banning cars.......
Another moronic comment. Gee, thanks Steve.
good comment Steve....when car bombs are outlawed, only Muslims will have car bombs....
The liberals ignore this violence because if they actually reported it all it would make the few acts here seem small in comparison.. The actual amount of extreme violent crime here is small if you look at these other places.. Far more tolerance toward people who melt into our open society..
they are a bit late the mayflower left a few hundred years ago.
Muslims killing other Muslims, who cares.
"Shiite pilgrims are one of the favorite targets for Sunni insurgents during Shiite religious events."
Are not these great in 21st century and example of "love" and "peace" of Islamic people?
They can't live in peace with another sect people.
One thing baffles me: can't these people kill in thousands as they do to minorities?
Imagine how it will be for infidels in between them!
We need to keep them over there and not let them bring their culture and violence to the USA or anywhere in North or South America. I know that is not what the USA is all about, but we should limit immigration from those countries so that the population of Muslims never reaches more than 2% here. Theirs is a culture of violence and it will probably not ever change. They have been killing each other and infidels for thousands of years and will probably continue to do so for thousands of years more.
YA kinda like all the black people killing each other
The tragedy of Imam Hussain which took place on the lands of Karbala will always be commemorated in the same way it has been for 14 centuries. And throughout all those centuries there has always been opposition from Muslims themselves and others from foreign lands who do not even understand or are able to fathom the pureness of such commemoration. But look, aren't we talking about those same Shiites that have been killed and negated (as is being done on this pitiful forum)? Just to let all of you know, the Shia have always outlived those empires and peoples that have harmed them. Unjust people are the ultimate losers. And they will always live whether they (innocent men, women, and children) are mercilessly killed by other Muslims and then those killings supported by those with such evil minds as to praise these unjust killings; or whether the Shia are abused verbally by those who are ignorant and have no mind to talk ethically and logically with a civilization that has and always will have deep, emotional, physical roots in this world.
"Mission accomplished????"
Uh huh. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm....................
More to it!
There was more reconstruction, training for take over and encouraging moderate Muslim elements for holding elections and establishing democracy!
Then oil rich Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and other Sunni Arab rulers asked Bush, UN, and others to take a break!
You see: Sunni rulers' jobs were unfinished in Syria and Iran!
Yes, in Muslim nations!
Can there be some inventions to add extra speed to camels?
Tragedy. Madness. Senseless murder. May they all rest in peace. Peace to all those who suffer.
ah yes muslims doing what they do best, killing for no other reason than they love to kill. it is called blood lust. all through their history they have not been happy unless they were killing innocent women and children. and our moronic president wants us to be tolerant of them. why? because he is one himself.
You missed the major killer targets: other religious persons and minority tribes. And women and children have been regular practice target from Mohammed's days!
It appears that the Muslims have glorified suicide bombings so much that they will kill their own now. Pity.
Humans are the most violent creatures on Earth that kill without reason. A cat will play with it's prey before killing them but at least a cat will eat it's kill afterwards. Humans just kill for no apparent logical reason as the Sandy Hooks murders have proven.
Muslims have been killing their own for centuries. This is nothing new.
The tragedy of Imam Hussain which took place on the lands of Karbala will always be commemorated in the same way it has been for 14 centuries. And throughout all those centuries there has always been opposition from Muslims themselves and others from foreign lands who do not even understand or are able to fathom the pureness of such commemoration. But look, aren't we talking about those same Shiites that have been killed and negated (as is being done on this pitiful forum)? Just to let all of you know, the Shia have always outlived those empires and peoples that have harmed them. Unjust people are the ultimate losers. The Shia will always live whether they (innocent men, women, and children) are mercilessly killed by other Muslims and then those killings supported by those with such evil minds as to praise these unjust killings; or whether the Shia are abused verbally by those who are ignorant and have no mind to talk ethically and logically with a civilization that has and always will have deep, emotional, physical roots in this world.
Nice to see America went into debt and these barbarians are still murdering eachother senselessly. Time to bring everyone home and save money while they do what they've done for centuries...still.
If they're barbarians, what are we?
Johnny: evolved
This cannot be correct.
All the terrorists threatened violence until America took out its military. America is gone, so what's the problem now?
It is so hard to make these terrorists happy.
Ahhh .....peace at last.....and it only took 9+ yrs and countless American lives. Freaking ingrates.
Muslim killing Muslim - nothing new there. This is the way of life they prefer. And I prefer it as well. Better they kill each other than kill Americans.
Islam, the religion of Pieces.
But no need to ban cars, just ban Islam and 90% of the world's problems will go away.
I am a big Shiite supporter and I want the battles between Shiites and Sunnis even.
I can't support Shiites longer as they become losers in the killing business.
When Shiites start killing Sunnis in more than 1000s, I will start supporting them again!
Before banning Islam, make sure that at least 80 percent are gone in killing each other.
Any new ideas for faster and greater killings?
Biological weapons. Feces bombs. "Water" balloons filled with pig's blood.
I could teach these humanoids how to wipe each other off the face of the earth so much better, they just can't afford my services.
Send them our "cash for clunkers" cars?
Load our landfill onto C130's and dump as they go?
So what if a bunch of testosterone driven aborigines kill each other...the Iraq War was a big mistake...the Afghanistan War is a big mistake...the US needs to stop murdering people under the sanction of a military flag...that is "not" what the US Military should be doing...what is it with people in America always so quick to tell other countries what they should be doing...the people in America can't even figure out what they should be doing...all under some phoney ass mandate that the US is responsible for spreading democracy...what a load of bullsh*t...
There was/is a reason for war in Afghanistan, the very same crazy, no good, radical muslims attacked the United States, we had a chance to completely eradicate them until GWB, and gang decided to divert troops to Iraq and minimize efforts in Afghanistan, and now look we're still battling these same people in Afghanistan. I predict as soon as our troops leave there, and Karzai is dumped as leader of Afghanistan, the Taliban and Al qaeda will be right back in control and women/girls will once again have no rights. There's an old saying that applied to women in US at one time, barefoot and pregnant all the time.
I noticed in the picture that they were all Blue eyed Iraqis. One eye blew this way, the other eye blew that way...............
Where is the gun? You can not kill this many people with out an assault rifle and a 40 round mag-is just is not possible. Has to be a gun somewhere. Oh that's right he left it in the car.......
I still bet they don't have 10000+ civilians dead per year from suicide bombers. We like to call names, but the reality is we should be taking a closer look at ourselves.... Knuckle heads.
MURDER bomber, not "suicide bomber".
Start calling them what they are.
Murderers.
I never thought of that-you are right!
What sorts of people Shiites are?
Can't they hit back and kill Sunnis in larger numbers?
If they are so cowards, next time they should hang themselves with women burkha/niqab!
So you want a genocide. Is that right?
It might be for the better good, but that is a hard thing to root for.
MC Gusto: If Shiites and Sunnis do genocides, I, infidel, can't comment much!
I have to worry about jihad on me before I worry about their genocides!
My problem is that even if I run, they will chase me and do jihad!
Just see how many Muslims are in the US planning jihads! One Saudi student wanted to use "chemical weapons."
Not many deep thinkers here today.
I hear " Muslims killing Muslims, Yeah" and " Bush's Fault"
Anyone have something new to add?
Ideas , solutions,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, prayers. Anything?
Did anyone hear that Iraq's president died last week?
I know. NBC didn't tell us but maybe the news got out anyways.
Wow that is news that should have been reported.
Iraq's Vice prez isn't even allowed in Iraq because he ran death squads.
But he is set to take office.
I'm not sure how that will work.
MC
I was on the ground in 91. Then again VERY briefly in 2003. The only thing that had change were SOME of the players. "Not many deep thinkers here today." There is no depth or thought to this-just stupid religious (not Spiritual) politics, power trips, and murder. In 91, yes we were mostly there for oil-but, we did liberate a country from a genocidal dictator and that did give us troops something to feel good about. I still have NO good feelings about Nam. In 2003 I just felt like we should have done it the first time. Now...letem kill each other. Bring our folks home we need them on the southern border. But I am just a tired, washed out, fading old soldier. What the hell do I know?
CSM USA RET Airborne Infantry
Thanks for your take on this Bob.
Thanks for your patriotism too and your service.
When will the younger folks ask the older folks why if blowing themselves up is such a great honor, why don't they blow themselves up?
Because young people are gullible.
Look how they voted for Barack.
many americans are gullible. Look how they voted for bush jr.
You voted for Al Gore?
you vote for bush jr?
I voted for Clinton once
Bush once
Obama once.
Obama is the only one I regret.
so you were gullible too I guess.
I voted for bush sr but not jr. It was obvious jr was a figurehead who got where he did because of his name, who was not the least bit interested in knowing anything about "the world", which is the biggest job of the president (whose main single responsibilities are foreign policy and CIC), so he was clearly a disaster-in-waiting..as iraq proved me right.
Some of the comments on here are truly despicable as you can possibly be. This is what is wrong with the World We All live in. If you really think that way then you are part of the problem. I just don't get it, period!
I hear that and hope you don't mean me.
Nope not you. Just the ones that hope that everyone else just kills each other and other bigoted remarks. Opinions are fine just not ones that trod on other humans for someones personal pleasure.
Does anyone know how many Americans are still in Iraq on U S payrolls.
Mc Gusto - We will never find that out. Not one of the phonies in DC will ever admit to us being there in any capacity.
Can anyone tell me the name of Iraq's president?
Does anyone know what America's Iraqi policy is?
What are our goals there?
We do not have any goals. We just invaded the country because Americans get scared when a country does not do as they are told. (Same for Afghanistan)
Do you how to use Google or anyother search engine? Why does someone always have to do your work? I paid Taxes all my life for you to have an education. Now use your head for something other than a hat rack.
If you don't know an answer just say so or better yet, don't bother to reply.