Death Toll in Iraqi Suicide Bombing Rises to 36

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Iraqi officials say the death toll from a suicide bomb attack on Shi’ite pilgrims has risen to at least 36, with more than 60 people wounded.

The suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday on a bus carrying the Shi’ites as they were returning home from a pilgrimage to the central city of Samarra to commemorate the death of 9th century imam Hassan al-Askari. Samarra is home to a gold-domed shrine to the imam. Sunni militants have targeted the shrine and pilgrims visiting it in the past.

A car bomb hit a group of Shi’ites traveling to the shrine last Thursday, killing at least eight pilgrims. That bomb went off near the town of Dujail, south of Samarra.

Iraq’s majority Shi’ites had been banned from staging religious ceremonies by Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

VOA

The VOA is the Voice of America

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