Scores die in Iraq suicide attacks

A wave of suicide bombings across Iraq has left more than 55 people dead and almost 300 injured. Three suicide bombers targeted Baghdad as tens of thousands of Shia pilgrims streamed into the city for an annual event commemorating the death of an eighth-century saint. The quick succession of suicide attacks and a roadside bomb killed at least 28 and wounded 92.
In a separate attack in the northern city of Kirkuk, a bomb killed at least 25 people and injured 185 at a Kurdish rally.

US military officials have blamed al-Qaeda for the attacks, which come after a period of relative calm which saw violence fall to a four-year low. Most of the dead in the Baghdad attacks, which occurred several miles from the intended goal of the Kadhamiya pilgrimage in northern Baghdad, were women and children, police and health officials said.

The three Baghdad bombers are understood by the US military to have been women, while police in Kirkuk claimed the suicide bomber was also female. Women suicide bombers have carried out more than 20 attacks this year leading to the deployment of a team of female guards around Kadhamiya specifically to search suspects.