The Iraqi capital was under a vehicle curfew for the peak of a Shia pilgrimage today, a day after three female suicide bombers killed 28 people among crowds walking to a revered shrine.
Officials had predicted 1 million people would attend the commemoration of the death of one of Shia Islam's 12 imams.
It was unclear if yesterday's attacks, which bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, would deter pilgrims from flocking to the Kadhamiya shrine in northern Baghdad. Shia pilgrims normally make their way to such events in Iraq on foot.
The government and US officials condemned the blasts in Baghdad as well as a suicide bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk that killed 22 people. One Iraqi security official said it might have also been carried out by a woman.
More than 250 people were wounded in the four attacks, which marked one of the bloodiest days in Iraq this year.
Violence has fallen to four-year lows, but the bombings underscore the challenge for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, especially as US troops draw down while his forces seek to take on greater responsibility for safeguarding the country.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops and police have deployed for the Shia pilgrimage, setting up checkpoints and closing roads. Security forces have put female guards around Kadhamiya to search women, but all yesterday's blasts happened in central Baghdad, an area many pilgrims pass through to reach the shrine.
Iraqi men are also reluctant to search women, prompting al Qaeda to increasingly use females who hide explosives under their clothes.
US commanders caution that despite better security, suicide bombers wearing vests packed with explosives will still manage to slip into crowded places. Women have carried out more than 20 suicide attacks in Iraq this year.
REUTERS