Unknown gunmen opened fire on Shi' ite pilgrims south of Baghdad on Tuesday when they were walking to Karbala to mark one of the holiest ritual in the Shi'ite calendar, wounding 10 pilgrims, an Interior Ministry source said.
"Unidentified gunmen in the morning opened fire with their machine-guns on hundreds of Shi'ite pilgrims who were walking on the highway in Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Doura," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Gunmen also fired on the pilgrims on the main road near the town of Mahmoudiyah, some 30 km south of Baghdad, the source said.
A total of 10 pilgrims were injured in the two attacks, he added.
Overnight, the holy city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad, became the scene of turmoil when clashes broke out between pilgrims and security forces near the holy shrine of Imam Hussein and the adjacent shrine of his brother Imam Abbas, according to a local police source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The clashes erupted after pilgrims and gunmen attacked a security checkpoint near the shrines, killing four people and wounding some 20 others, the source told Xinhua.
Earlier on Tuesday, the pilgrims gathered in the city peacefully after Shi'ite clerics in the city called for calmness on Monday night.
Dozens of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims are converging in Karbala to celebrate the 9th century birth of Muhammad al-Mahdi, the last of 12 Imam Shi'ites most revered.
Shi'ites believe that Imam Mahdi is hidden and will never die, but he will return at the end of the time to bring peace and justice to the mankind.
Source: Xinhua
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