19/12/2013 18:21
Suicide bomber targets Shia pilgrims in Baghdad
A suicide bombing targeting Shia pilgrims in Iraq's capital Baghdad has killed 14 people, the BBC reported, citing officials.
The attack in the southern district of Dora took place at a tent where the pilgrims were having refreshments.
They were walking to the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen, which marks the end of the 40 days of mourning for the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein.
Meanwhile, gunmen wearing military uniforms shot dead a family of five in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib.
The victims were a former member of a Sahwa, or Awakening Council - a Sunni militia set up to combat al-Qaeda - as well as his wife, and at least two of their children. There were conflicting reports about whether the fifth victim was another child or the wife's brother.
Sectarian violence has surged across Iraq this year. The UN says the overall death toll in November was 659, including 565 civilians and 94 members of the Iraqi security forces, compared with 979 in October.
More than 7,150 civilians and 950 security forces personnel have now been killed since January, the highest annual toll since 2008.
Pilgrims like those killed in Dora on Thursday have been targeted frequently by Sunni militants who consider Shia heretics.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a group of pilgrims in Khalis, north of Baghdad, killing five people. The death toll would reportedly have been higher if a policeman had not embraced the bomber just beforehand, in order to shield others from the blast.
Thirty-two others were killed in attacks on pilgrims in and around the capital on Monday and Tuesday.
The UN has called on Iraq's political leaders to co-operate to end the bloodshed, which has escalated since an army raid on a Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp in April 2013.