Femail Suicide Bomber kills 40 in Iraq

At least 40 Shiite pilgrims, many of them women and children, were killed Friday by a female suicide bomber south of Baghdad in the deadliest attack so far this year, Iraqi officials say. At least 60 more were injured in the attack near Iskanderiya, about 25 miles south of Baghdad, at a stop on the pilgrimage route to Karbala, where millions of Shiites annually converge to mark the death of Imam Hussein. – From Christian Science Monitor

A female suicide bomber killed 40 people and wounded 60 others south of Baghdad on Friday when she blew herself up on a major Shiite religious ceremony route, police said. The attack in Iskandariya, 40 km south of the capital, came a day after a bomb killed eight people in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, to which hundreds of thousands of visitors were headed to commemorate Arbaeen. – From GulfNews.com

A suicide bomber killed almost three dozen Shiite Muslim pilgrims Friday while they were en route to a holy site in central Iraq, marking the third straight day of intense violence. The bombing came as officials prepared plan to release final election results next week. Earlier attacks targeted politicians and others. – From McClatchy