Blast kills Shia pilgrims in Basra

14/01/2012| IslamWeb

An attack has killed at least 15 Shia pilgrims in Iraq's southern city of Basra, local police say.

The attacker, wearing a suicide vest, was said to have been disguised as a policeman targeting pilgrims who were passing through a checkpoint in the outskirt of the main southern city at the time of the blast.

The pilgrims were headed toward a Shia mosque in the busy al-Zubair district west of Basra city.

Iraqi security forces have stationed 30,000 police and soldiers outside Karbala city and along the roads leading to it.

PHOTO CAPTION

Map of Iraq locating the southern city of Basra

Al-Jazeera