Bombing near the Iranian border clouds the holiest Shiite day

A series of bombs directed at Shiites celebrating Ashoura exploded in Baghdad on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported on the same day. Subsequent reprisal strikes in Sunni neighborhoods underlined the ever-growing divisions between the two groups.

Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar, marks the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s death, which occurred during a battle in 680 A.D., marked the beginning of the division between the Shiites and Sunnis.

Tuesday’s attacks took place near the Diyala province - an area close to the Iranian border that has been the site of intensified attacks of late - and targeted Shiite Kurds. In Mandali, a suicide bomber detonated himself among a crowd entering a mosque. The attack killed 19 and wounded 54 people. A second attack occurred in Khanaqin; a bomb exploded in a garbage can where many Shiites were performing religious ceremonies. The Khanaqin attack killed 13 people and wounded 39.

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