Iraq attacks kill 44 as millions mark Shiite
holiday

Karbala (Iraq) (AFP) - Attacks mostly against Shiites, including the suicide bombing of a religious
procession, killed 44 people in Iraq Thursday despite massive security for one of the holiest days of their faith.

The bloodshed came as a flood of worshippers,
including tens of thousands of foreign pilgrims,
thronged the central shrine city of Karbala for the
climax of Ashura, braving repeated attacks by Sunni militants that have marred the festival in previous years.

The suicide bomber, disguised in police uniform,
struck in a Shiite-majority area of confessionally
mixed Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killing 32
people and wounding 80, security and medical
officials said.

It was the third attack of the day targeting Shiites.
Earlier, coordinated blasts in Hafriyah south of the
capital killed nine people, while twin bombings in the northern oil city of Kirkuk wounded five.

Violence near Baghdad and in Diyala's provincial
capital Baquba left three others dead.
Shiites from Iraq and around the world mark Ashura, which this year climaxed on Thursday, by setting up procession tents where pilgrims gather and food is distributed to passers-by.

An estimated two million faithful gathered in Karbala, site of the mausoleum of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, whose death in the city at the hands of soldiers of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD lies at the heart of Islam's sectarian divide....

news.yahoo.com/three-iraq-bombs-kill-eight-shiite-pilgrims-081759111.html

www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/religion/iraq-attacks-target-ashura-commemorations-killing-dozens/

"Everyday is Ashura and Every land is Kar'bala"
~Imam Ali ibn Hussain, Zainul Abideen (a.s)!

Injustice, oppression, transgression, evil...were the summary of what happened on the day of Ashura in the land of Kar'bala.

This is how it happens everyday on every land.

Ashura marks a day when the force of evil at its fullest tried to suppress the force of God. Nay! There's great victory even in defeat for "Amr bil Maruf wa Nahy anil Munkar (enjoying what is good and forbidden what is evil) reign supreme.

"Peace be upon Hussain the day he was born, the day he died and the day he will be resurrected"

Allahuma shafa'atal Hussain yaomal wurud!