Bomb Attacks Hit Iraqi Holy City And Capital

Bomb attacks hit Karbala Shiite pilgrimage site and the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing at least one person, officials said.

A bomb attached to a car parked in the center of Karbala located 90km south of Baghdad, exploded Saturday morning, killing one person and wounded 27 others sources told Al Jazeera at the General Hospital in Karbala.

Six injured in roadside bomb in the Karrada neighborhood of central Baghdad on Saturday later, Al Jazeera reported from the capital Rawya Rageh.

Baghdad attack was aimed at the general public without specific targets, reported Rageh.

Saturday was the third explosion in Karbala over the past two days to attack the holy city as Shia pilgrims on their way to visit the shrine of Imam al-Hussein, there to celebrate the birth of Imam Mohammed al-Mahdi.

Has been a one-year anniversary of the pilgrimage, to show the power of Shiite Muslim majority in Iraq since Saddam Hussein 2003rd

Saddam banned Shiite religious rituals during his rule. Because of his tip, the Sunni Islamists often targeted Shiites.

Unlike previous years, the Shia Muslim pilgrims in recent months largely passed without any incidents. But it is a pilgrimage in Karbala targeted recurrent attacks.

Last blast occurred near the security checkpoint 80 km southwest of Baghdad, and most of the victims were police officers, police and local officials said.

On Friday a car bomb exploded near a hospital parking garage west of Karbala. The police said that four people were killed and 20 wounded.

Separate killing a bomb under a parked car two people and wounded four others north of Karbala on Friday, according to the commander at the same time a hospital source said the explosion killed three people and wounded 23 others.

Last year a car bomb killed and wounded scores of people at the Imam Mahdi compliance.