RNA – Grand Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi has issued a statement condemning Saturday’s car bomb attack in Nahrawan, east of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, which targeted a group of Shi’a pilgrims passing through the area on their way to Baghdad’s northern neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of the seventh Shi’a Imam, Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kadhim.
The Najaf-based source of emulation’s statement said a large number of innocent people were killed and wounded in the “brutal terrorist attack” in Nahrawan.
At least 23 people lost their lives and dozens of others sustained injuries in the terrorist attack.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated a vehicle laden with three tons of explosives.
Imam al-Kadhim, the seventh of twelve Imams revered in Shi’a Islam, died in 799 CE. In recent years, the pilgrimage has turned into a huge event that brings the Iraqi capital to a standstill for days.
His Eminence said that the Iraqi security forces must be more attentive and vigilant in regard to the ISIL terrorists so that they cannot use the current security and political situation in the country to their advantage.
Protest in Baghdad
The Saturday bombing came as hundreds of people turned out in Baghdad for a demonstration aimed at pressuring the government to carry out reforms, the latest in a series of such protests in the capital.
Demonstrators gathered at Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and near the heavily-fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered.
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