Suicide Bombs Increase as Holy Day Nears

By NED PARKER, Los Angeles Times | January 18, 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A suicide bomber killed at least nine people yesterday outside a Shiite mosque in Baqouba during the run-up to the Islamic sect's major religious holiday, police said.

The attacker blew himself up in the capital of Diyala province as worshipers were making evening preparations for the festival of Ashoura, which falls Saturday. Police said 14 people were wounded in the blast.

The attack came a day after a female suicide bomber struck in Khan Bani Saad, killing eight people.

One witness to yesterday's blast said he watched a stranger arguing with a police officer who had been searching people entering the area by the mosque.

"I saw the bomber explode like a balloon with my own eyes," cafe owner Nussaif Jasim said. "The policeman was torn to pieces."

Sunni extremists have targeted the Ashoura celebrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The following year, suicide bombers killed nearly 180 people in multiple attacks in Karbala and the Shiite shrine of Kadhimiya in Baghdad.

For this year's Ashoura, the government has put a vehicle ban in effect, with some exemptions, in Baghdad and much of central Iraq in hopes of staving off any spectacular attacks against Shiite pilgrims.