Iraqi police say a roadside bomb has killed a Shi'ite pilgrim heading
to the holy city of Karbala, after attacks killed at least 19 pilgrims
Thursday.
Police say the latest bomb exploded as a bus packed
with pilgrims was leaving Baghdad for Karbala Friday. At least nine
people were wounded.
Iraqi authorities have deployed more than
40,000 police and soldiers around Karbala to prevent further bloodshed
during the annual festival marking the birth of the Shi'ites' 12th and
last Imam.
The security personnel include 2,000 women who will
search female pilgrims. On Thursday, two women suicide bombers killed
at least 19 Shi'ite pilgrims in Iskandariya, as the pilgrims set off
for Karbala.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities say Sunni al-Qaida terrorists have increasingly turned to women to conduct suicide attacks in Iraq.
In
other violence, the U.S. military Friday announced the death of a
Marine killed by small arms fire in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah,
in Anbar province, and of a coalition soldier in Baghdad from
non-combat-related causes.
The military says an investigation into the death of the soldier in Baghdad is under way.
Also
Friday, the outgoing commander of British forces in Iraq says the
security situation has improved so much in the southern city of Basra
that militia groups will not regain control.
In interviews
with British media, BBC News and The Guardian newspaper, Major
General Barney White-Spunner says residents of Basra want to see an end
to violent extremism, and that Iraqi forces will be able to combat the
threat of any attack without the help of foreign troops.
Separately,
the International Organization for Migration released a report Friday
saying life has not improved for the nearly three million internally
displaced Iraqis.
The Geneva-based agency says people living
in tent camps are particularly worse off, with many residents having no
protection from the elements and no access to basic services, such as
medical care.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
