IRAQ: After a bloody bombing campaign that killed dozens of Shi'ite Muslims three days earlier, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims peacefully arrive at a Baghdad shrine

Record ID: 695295

  • Title: IRAQ: After a bloody bombing campaign that killed dozens of Shi'ite Muslims three days earlier, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims peacefully arrive at a Baghdad shrine
  • Date: 25th May 2014
  • Summary: KADHIMIYA DISTRICT, BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MAY 25, 2014) (REUTERS) IMAM MOUSSA AL-KHADHIM SHRINE/ TILT DOWN TO PILGRIMS WALKING IN OPEN COURTYARD PILGRIMS WALKING INTO SHRINE MORE OF PILGRIMS WALKING INTO SHRINE PILGRIMS AT OPEN COURTYARD OF SHRINE MORE OF PILGRIMS AT OPEN COURTYARD OF SHRINE GROUP OF SHI'ITE YOUNG MEN BEATING CHESTS AND HEADS MAN READING FROM PRAYER BOOK PILGRIMS WALKING INSIDE SHRINE TO THE TOMB OF IMAM MOUSSA AL-KADHIM PILGRIMS BEATING HEADS GATHERING AROUND CAGE-LIKE TOMB OF IMAM AL-KADHIM PIECES OF CLOTH HANGING DOWN TOMB/ TO PILGRIMS NEAR TOMB PILGRIMS WITH ARMS STRETCHED OUT IN PRAY NEAR TOMB BLACK BANNERS FLUTTER OVER SHRINE/ HELICOPTER FLYING OVER GOLDEN MINARETS OF SHRINE LARGE CROWD OF PILGRIMS SURROUNDING SYMBOLIC COFFIN OF IMAM AL-KADHIM AND BLACK BANNER WAVING IN MIDDLE VARIOUS OF LARGE CROWD OF PILGRIMS WITH ARMS STRECHING OUT TRYING TO REACH OUT AND TOUCH COFFIN MORE OF COFFIN SURROUNDED BY HUGE NUMBER OF DEVOTED PILGRIMS PILGRIMS IN BLACK STANDING ON PLATFORM RECEIVING COFFIN FROM CROWD AND LIFTING IT ON PLATFORM PILGRIMS THRONGING OPEN COURTYARD OF SHRINE 19, PILGRIMS IN BLACK NEAR COFFIN ON PLATFORM SURROUNDED BY HUGE CROWD OF PILGRIMS PILGRIMS LEAVING SHRINE AT END OF RITUALS VARIOUS OF PILGRIMS LEAVING SHRINE
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAD5XYFIYOEZIVRRA3H93R4CKVG
  • Story Text: A major Shi'ite pilgrimage to a Baghdad shrine passed peacefully on its final day on Sunday (May 25), having been marred by violence three days earlier when a series of bombs killed dozens of pilgrims.
    The pilgrims thronged the shrine in the Kadhimiya district, beating their heads and chests, and carrying the symbolic coffin of Imam al-Kadhim, one of Shi'ite Islam's 12 imams.
    Thirty-two people were killed in three attacks on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims walking in Baghdad on Thursday (May 22) evening ahead of a major religious holiday, police and medical sources said.
    The attackers defied a shutdown of major roadways for Shi'ite religious faithful, who were heading to the Imam Kadhim shrine in Kadhimiya in western Baghdad to commemorate the death of the Shi'ite saint in 799.
    All the bombings happened in the space of 30 minutes. The deadliest was in eastern Baghdad, near Tayaran Square, where a minibus approached a crowd of pilgrims and exploded, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others, according to police and medical sources.
    Security forces were on high alert as hundreds of thousands descend on Baghdad to mourn Imam Kadhim.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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