BAGHDAD // An explosives-laden car detonated on Monday in the Iraqi capital, killing at least 18 Shiite pilgrims.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack claiming it was carried out by a suicide bomber.
An Iraqi police officer said the car was parked in Baghdad’s south-western Saydiyah neighbourhood and blew up shortly after midday. The explosion killed at least 18 and wounded 45 people, the officer said.
Tens of thousands of Shiite faithful have been making their way this week to the northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah, where the 8th century Imam Moussa Al Kadhim is buried. Security forces have blocked major roads in Baghdad in anticipation of attacks against pilgrims who traditionally travel on foot from different parts of Iraq.
Monday’s attack came a day after two car bombs in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah killed at least 31 people and wounded 52, an attack that was also claimed by ISIL.
The annual Shiite pilgrimage prompted anti-government protesters on Sunday to disband their demonstration – at least temporarily – in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone that they had stormed a day earlier.
According to the United Nations, at least 741 Iraqis were killed in April due to continuing violence, a sharp decline from the previous month.
* Associated Press
