29 killed in attack on pilgrims in Iraq

As many as 29 Shiite pilgrims were killed and some 60 wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq's Diyala province Thursday, Xinhua reported.

"The latest reports said that 29 worshippers were killed and 60 others wounded by the suicide bomb attacks," said a police source requesting anonymity.

The attack took place around noon when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vest amid a Shiite pilgrims' procession at a village in Sa'diyah city, some 120 km from Baghdad, the source added.

The city's mayor confirmed the death toll, while adding that the suicide bomber was a young man disguised in police uniform.

Earlier reports had placed the toll at 16 and the number of injured at 64.

The pilgrims were observing Ashura commemoration rituals, marking the death of Imam Hussein, one among the 12 most revered Imams of Shiites, who was killed in 680 AD and buried in Karbala, some 110 km from Baghdad.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 7, 000 Iraqis were killed and over 16,000 injured from January to October this year.