Suicide bomber kills 20 pilgrims in Baghdad

At least 20 people were killed and 55 others wounded when a suicide bomber targeted Shiite pilgrims here Saturday, police said.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest amid Shiite pilgrims in the Adhamiya area in northern Baghdad, Xinhua reported citing a police source.

The pilgrims were on their way to the Al-Kadhimiya mosque in the Kadhimiya neighbourhood in northern Baghdad, he added.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, which raises fears that the country is sliding back to the full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007, when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq has said that almost 6,000 civilians were killed and over 14,000 others injured in Iraq from January to September this year.