KARBALA, Iraq - Several explosions hit major Shiite shrines here and in Baghdad on Tuesday where thousands of pilgrims were gathered to for a religious festival, killing and wounding dozens of people.
In Karbala, five blasts went off almost simultaneously near two major Shiite Muslim shrines, throwing bodies for yards and sending crowds of pilgrims into a panic in the city 55 miles south of Baghdad.
An Associated Reporter saw 10 bodies that appeared to be dead being loaded onto a cart and taken away, as well as many injured.
In Baghdad, three explosions targeted the Kazimiya shrine, too, killing and injuring scores of people, an Associated Press Television News reporter said.
Shiites were gathered at the shrines to mark Ashoura, a mourning festival commemorating of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a top Shiite saint and the grandson of the prophet Muhammad.