Female suicide bomber kills 40 Shi'ite pilgrims at Baghdad shrine

January 5, 2009 A suicide bombing in Iraq has killed at least 40 people and injured at least 72 more, according to local police. The suicide bomber, a woman wearing an abaya, a robe-like dress, struck near the entrance of a revered Shiite shrine Imam Moussa Al-kadhim Sunday morning in the Kadhimiya neighborhood. The attack comes during a Shia pilgrimage where many Iranians were celebrating the Shia holy Day of Ashura.

Sunday's bombing came during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, among the holiest months for all Shiites Muslims, who prepare to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, Prophet Muhammad's grandson, who was killed during a 680 battle in Karbala.

A similar attack was perpetrated nine days after a December 26 car bomb exploded a minibus near the same holy shrine, which honors Khadim, considered the Seventh Imam, and killed at least 24 people and wounded 46 others.