A suicide car bomber struck a police patrol protecting Shiite pilgrims in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, killing eight and wounding 25 others, an Interior Ministry source said.

"The final police report said that seven policemen and a civilian were killed and 25 others wounded including 15 policemen, " the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The attack took place at about 3:20 p.m. (1220 GMT) in the Saidiyah neighborhood when a suicide bomber drove an explosive- laden car into a police patrol protecting Shiite pilgrims heading from the capital to the holy city of Najaf, according to the source.

The source, citing the initial report, said earlier that at least one policeman was killed and 17 others wounded, including ten policemen.

The sectarian violence against Shiite pilgrims came ahead of the Shiite occasion of Arba'een (40 days after the day of Ashura), which is the commemoration of the martyrdom by beheading of Imam al-Hussien bin Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad who was killed in the seventh century.

A spate of attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims killed had earlier killed eight Shiite pilgrims and wounded up to 32 others, the police said.

Source: Xinhua