[Al Arabiya Latest] At least 37 people were killed and more than 276 others wounded in Iraq on Friday in a series of bomb attacks aimed at Shiite pilgrims marking a key religious ceremony, Iraqi police said.A powerful car bomb killed at least 37 Shiite Muslims in Iraq's main northern city of Mosul on Friday, the local provincial governor said. A further 276 people were wounded in the Mosul suicide bombing, Nineveh province Governor Athel al-Nijafi said, in the latest in a spate of deadly attacks against Shiites which have stoked fears of a return to the sectarian conflict which swept the country in 2006 and 2007.
Meanwhile, two roadside bombs struck two minibuses in separate incidents in the poor Baghdad Shiite district of Sadr City. Three people were killed and eight wounded in one blast, and one person was killed and another five wounded in the other. Another roadside bomb struck a minibus in eastern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding six others, a hospital source said.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims poured into Iraq's holy city of Kerbala on Thursday to mark the birth of Imam Mohammed al-Mehdi, a figure Shiites believe vanished centuries ago and will return to bring peace on earth. The event was the second major religious gathering in Iraq since the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban centers on June 30, which thrust Iraqi security forces into the leading role.
Thursday's pilgrimage and the previous event passed largely peacefully, but insurgent attacks are still common, raising doubts about the Iraqi security forces' ability to stand alone. A series of bomb blasts near five Shiite mosques killed 31 people a week ago.
Shiite religious gatherings are frequent target of Sunni Islamist militants such as al Qaeda, who consider Shiites heretics.