Insurgents in Iraq Attack Shi'ites Returning from Pilgrimage
22 March 2006
Gunmen in Baghdad have attacked Shi'ite pilgrims on their way home after celebrating an important religious holiday.
Iraqi police say two Shi'ites died and dozens were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a bus and a truck carrying the pilgrims. They had just arrived in western Baghdad after attending a Shi'ite mourning ritual, Arbayeen, in the holy city of Karbala.
The gunmen ambushed police rushing to the scene, and two policemen died.
Also Wednesday, Iraqi police discovered at least six more bodies on the streets of the capital, as sectarian violence pitting Sunnis against Shi'ites continues.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, Iraqi police, with U.S. troops, captured at least 50 insurgents who stormed a police station south of Baghdad.
Officials say gunmen, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, carried out today's pre-dawn Wednesday raid on a police station in Madain. At least four policemen were killed.
In New York, CBS Television said an Iraqi cameraman, Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, detained for allegedly collaborating with insurgents, will go on trial within days. The cameraman was a freelancer working for the network. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called his treatment "alarming" because he has been held without charge for almost a year.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters
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