Insurgents Attack Shi'ite Pilgrims in Iraq
08 September 2006
Insurgents firing mortar rounds have killed at least three Shi'ite pilgrims in a procession near the holy city of Karbala in Iraq.
Officials say at least six more pilgrims were wounded in the attacks, which took place near the town of Musayyib, about 55 kilometers south of Baghdad.
Thousands of Shi'ites are converging on Karbala to celebrate the festival of Shaaban, which commemorates the birth of a ninth-century imam.
In other violence Friday, a roadside bomb in Baghdad killed at least two people.
The attacks come as Iraqi officials announced a drop in violence in the Iraqi capital in August.
The Iraqi Health Ministry says violence killed more than 1,500 people in Baghdad last month, about 14 percent lower than in July.
Last week, the U.S. military said the murder rate in Baghdad dropped 52 percent in August from the daily rate for July. It was not immediately clear why the two figures are so different.
The U.S. military also says an American soldier died Friday after a roadside bomb struck his vehicle south of Baghdad.
On Thursday, U.S.-led forces began turning over control of Iraq's military to the Shi'ite-led government.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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