10 killed in Shiite pilgrimage to Karbala

Every year in Iraq, it seems, Shiite pilgrims will be killed on their pilgrimage to Karbala, one of their holiest cities.

A total of 10 people were killed and 70 wounded as a series of car bombs ripped through crowds on Friday and Saturday in the Karbala, Xinhua reported.

The attacks started on Friday afternoon when two car bombs exploded at a garage near the Shiite shrine in northern part of Karbala, killing three people and wounding 15 others, local police said.

Another car detonated late Friday in a town 30 km east of Karbala, killing six pilgrims processing towards the holy shrine of Karbala and wounding 28 others, an Interior Ministry source said.

On Saturday morning, a motorcycle bomb struck a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in one of Karbala's southern neighborhoods, killing one and wounding 27 others, the source said.

Karbala is the scene for a major Shiite ceremony commemorating the birthday of the 12th and last Imam, Mohammed Ibn Hassan al-Mahdi, the most revered of Shiite Imams.

Since 2003, thousands of Shiite pilgrims have been killed and wounded in explosions and assassinations, CNN reported.