Iraq mortar attack kills 31 Shiite pilgrims
A mortar bomb attack on the last day of a major mourning ceremony in Iraq killed 31 Shiite pilgrims and wounded dozens more on Friday in an atrocity blamed on Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein loyalists.
The bomb struck pilgrims who were leaving the holy shrine city of Karbala, 110 kilometres (68 miles) south of Baghdad, where more than a million devotees had gathered to mark the festival of Arbaeen.
It was the third major attack this week on worshippers who have for weeks been travelling there on foot for the climax of the event earlier on Friday.
A provincial health ministry official gave the death toll and said 150 others were wounded.