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Explosions hit Iraq Shia festival
Breaking
At least six explosions have rocked the holy Iraqi city of Karbala, where tens of thousands of Shia Muslims are marking the festival of Ashura. Reuters news agency is reporting that at least 25 people have been killed. The BBC's Paul Wood in Karbala says there are scenes of panic, with victims being carried on makeshift stretchers and women trying to get children away. Our correspondent says security was tight because of fears that the festival would be a target for attacks. There are also reports of a loud blast at a major Shia shrine in the capit al Baghdad, in what may by a co-ordinated attack.

AP has the corpse count at 125 as of noon (EST). In Quetta there are another 29 deaders.Shia-Sunni civil war, anyone?

By end of the day, Mehr News Agency was reporting the total dead at 200 and hundreds of others wounded...

Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-03-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=27259