By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BAGHDAD, Iraq – On February 1 a female suicide bomber attacked a procession of Shi’ite Muslims who were on a pilgrimage to the southern city of Karbala, located approximately eighty kilometers southwest of Baghdad. The attack killed at least fifty four people. Among the dead were many women and children. Additionally, over one hundred people were injured in the attack.
Major-General Qassim Atta, the spokesman for the Baghdad operational command confirmed that “a woman wearing an explosives-filled belt blew herself up in the middle of a crow of pilgrims going to Karbala.” Defense ministry spokesman General Mohammed al-Askari said that the suicide bomber came for Diyala province which has in the past been a stronghold of Al Qaeda.
Hundreds of thousands of Shi’ites pour into the streets for the religious rite of Arbaeen. It marks the forty days after the Ahsura anniversary that commemorates the killing of seventh century Imam Hussein. Imam Hussein’s shrine is considered one of the holiest places in Shi’ite Islam. Worshipers beating their heads and chests in ritual mourning. Due to risk of attacks, thirty thousand members of the Iraqi security forces were deployed to Karbala for the holy festival.
This was the third attack by suspected Sunni insurgents in the past week. Top Baghdad security officials have been forced to acknowledge that extremists are adopting new methods to outwit bomb-detection squads. Iraqi authorities lack enough policewomen to conduct searches at most checkpoints. Additionally, security forces have been reluctant to use bomb-sniffing dogs against people due cultural sensitivities. Atta insisted that security officials informed all checkpoints to be careful and to intensify the search procedures.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s released a statement blaming the Baath party. This was the party of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The statement said, “We hold Baathists and their Takfiri allies responsible for this massacre.” Takfiri is the term used by the Iraqi government for members of Al Qaeda.
US and Iraqi officials have feared a step up in violence from Al Qaeda in Iraq prior to the March 7 parliamentary elections. The elections are intended to serve as a large step towards reconciliation between the majority Shi’ites and Sunnis who lost control after Hussein was removed.
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Deadly Blast Hits Iraq Pilgrims – 2 February 2010
AP – Female Suicide Bomber in Iraq Kills 54 – 2 February 2010
AFP – Female Suicide Bomber Kills 41 in Baghdad: Officials – 1 February 2010
BBC – Female Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Iraq -1 February 2010
