World

Shi'ite pilgrims killed in suicide attack

14:12 pm on 6 October 2013

A suicide bomb attack on Shi'ite pilgrims in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed at least 50 people.

The attack in Adhamiyah district came as pilgrims walked to a Shia shrine and followed a day of violence elsewhere.

An Interior Ministry official says more than 100 others were injured in the attack.

In another attack, in the mainly Shia town of Balad, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a cafe, killing at least 12 people, the BBC reports. In Mosul gunmen shot dead two journalists.

Iraq has seen a sharp rise in sectarian violence in recent months.

No groups have yet said they carried out Saturday's attacks, but much of the recent violence has been carried out by Sunni organisations linked to al-Qaeda.

Almost 1,000 people were killed in Iraq during the past month alone, the UN has said.