AT LEAST 37 people have died in a series of bomb attacks against Shia pilgrims and worshippers in Iraq, amid fears that extremists are hoping to plunge the country back into sectarian strife.
The deadliest blast occurred in Rasheediyah, a village north of Mosul in northern Iraq, when a suicide car bomb struck a mosque, killing at least 30 and trapping dozens more under rubble.
A police official in Nineveh said at least 88 were injured in the blast.
The attack took place shortly after 1pm as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers. The blast severely damaged many buildings near the mosque.
“We received a request from the hospital in Mosul for emergency supplies,” said Gustavo Fernandez, the head of mission of Médecins sans Frontières in Iraq.
“They are treating about 70 patients.”
Mr Fernandez, speaking from Irbil, 100km (62 miles) from Mosul, said the area was among the most unstable in Iraq.
“The situation in Mosul is too risky for us,” he said.
In Baghdad, roadside bombs targeted pilgrims returning from the southern city of Karbala, 31km (50 miles) away. The first of three bombs exploded at 9.10am, hitting a minibus as it entered Sadr city.
The blast killed four and wounded eight.
A short time later two almost simultaneous explosions near the Shaab football stadium in eastern Baghdad killed three pilgrims as they were walking home to Sadr city. Thirteen pilgrims were wounded in the two blasts.
Hundreds of thousands of devout Shias have been travelling by foot or car to Karbala to celebrate the birth of Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th Shia imam.
The insurgency in Iraq has waned in the past 18 months, but insurgents have been able to hide out in the mountainous areas around Mosul, 390km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, and have exploited divisions between Mosul’s feuding Arabs and Kurds.
The dispute in the northern province of Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, threatens to split the province and inflame tensions that could threaten Iraq’s long-term stability. “There are parties that seek to create chaos inside Mosul by dragging Iraq into sectarian fighting,” Nineveh’s governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi, said.
Many Iraqis fear attacks on Shias may reignite sectarian slaughter between Sunnis and Shias. – (Guardian service; additional reporting: Reuters)