Over twenty dead after multiple bomb attacks in Iraq

December 25, 2009 Iraqi officials have said that at least twenty people were killed and 100 wounded in multiple attacks across Iraq today.

According to the authorities, twin bombings near a bus station in the central town of Hillah killed a dozen people and wounded more than 73 others. The second of those two blasts occurred as emergency workers arrived at the scene of the initial explosion. An Iraqi provincial council member was among the dead.

An explosion at an outdoor funeral in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City killed at least five people and wounded 22 others on the same day.

And meanwhile, in southern Baghdad, a bomb killed three Shi'ite pilgrims and wounded another 10. They were on their way to the holy city of Karbala to mark the solemn Ashura holiday. It will be observed on Sunday, when Shi'ite pilgrims mourn the seventh-century killing of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Also on Thursday, a bomb exploded at a restaurant near Karbala, wounding several people.