OMEN
08-20-2006, 08:35 PM
BAGHDAD: At least 15 people died and 200 were wounded in Baghdad on Sunday in attacks on pilgrims who had gathered in their hundreds of thousands for a sacred Shi'ite festival.
"Most of the attacks are taking place when pilgrims are crossing the neighboring areas into Kadhimiya," a Health Ministry spokesman said, referring to the northern suburb where a sacred shrine is focal point of the event.
Heavy security was meant to lower the ever-present danger of sectarian strife at a festival with a bloody history.
Merely the fear of violence - with a rumour that a suicide bomber had been seen - sparked a stampede last year in which 965 people died.
Clashes were reported in the west and the north of the city.
A resident in the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Waziriya said gunmen had attacked Shi'ite pilgrims. Shi'ite militiamen fought back, and the clashes were continuing.
An Iraqi Army source, who declined to be identified, said US air support had been requested to help bring the situation under control.
Six suspected militants were arrested in earlier incidents, including one in which gunmen fired from a Sunni mosque, witnesses said.
At the festival, worshippers flagellated themselves with chains and thousands crammed the narrow streets around the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in Kadhimiya, which security forces have sealed off for the celebrations on Saturday and Sunday.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government has temporarily banned vehicles from Baghdad and beefed up security to prevent a repeat of the stampede, in which many pilgrims were crushed to death on A'imma bridge over the Tigris river, or drowned when they jumped in.
Police have closed the crossing this year.
Scores die violently every day in Iraq in sectarian and insurgent bloodshed, mostly in Baghdad, where thousands of additional US troops have been sent in recent weeks to help restore stability.
Extra security meant that until Sunday serious incidents at the religious gathering had been few - the worst a drive-by shooting on Friday in which seven pilgrims died.
Huge crowds of Shi'ites, who are the majority in Iraq, continued to stream on Sunday toward the shrine.
Musicians banged drums a symbols, others waved flags and pulled floats depicting the imam, while attendants sprayed water on people to help them keep cool in the searing heat.
"I was here last year, but the measures taken this time are much better," said Kadhim Hussein, an unemployed 35-year-old. "Thank God there are people giving us food and drink."
Islamic historians say Imam Musa al-Kadhim, was imprisoned and poisoned in Baghdad in 799 AD by Harun al-Rashid, the leader of the Muslim caliphate at the time, who feared him as a political rival for power.
Reuters
"Most of the attacks are taking place when pilgrims are crossing the neighboring areas into Kadhimiya," a Health Ministry spokesman said, referring to the northern suburb where a sacred shrine is focal point of the event.
Heavy security was meant to lower the ever-present danger of sectarian strife at a festival with a bloody history.
Merely the fear of violence - with a rumour that a suicide bomber had been seen - sparked a stampede last year in which 965 people died.
Clashes were reported in the west and the north of the city.
A resident in the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Waziriya said gunmen had attacked Shi'ite pilgrims. Shi'ite militiamen fought back, and the clashes were continuing.
An Iraqi Army source, who declined to be identified, said US air support had been requested to help bring the situation under control.
Six suspected militants were arrested in earlier incidents, including one in which gunmen fired from a Sunni mosque, witnesses said.
At the festival, worshippers flagellated themselves with chains and thousands crammed the narrow streets around the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in Kadhimiya, which security forces have sealed off for the celebrations on Saturday and Sunday.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government has temporarily banned vehicles from Baghdad and beefed up security to prevent a repeat of the stampede, in which many pilgrims were crushed to death on A'imma bridge over the Tigris river, or drowned when they jumped in.
Police have closed the crossing this year.
Scores die violently every day in Iraq in sectarian and insurgent bloodshed, mostly in Baghdad, where thousands of additional US troops have been sent in recent weeks to help restore stability.
Extra security meant that until Sunday serious incidents at the religious gathering had been few - the worst a drive-by shooting on Friday in which seven pilgrims died.
Huge crowds of Shi'ites, who are the majority in Iraq, continued to stream on Sunday toward the shrine.
Musicians banged drums a symbols, others waved flags and pulled floats depicting the imam, while attendants sprayed water on people to help them keep cool in the searing heat.
"I was here last year, but the measures taken this time are much better," said Kadhim Hussein, an unemployed 35-year-old. "Thank God there are people giving us food and drink."
Islamic historians say Imam Musa al-Kadhim, was imprisoned and poisoned in Baghdad in 799 AD by Harun al-Rashid, the leader of the Muslim caliphate at the time, who feared him as a political rival for power.
Reuters