ERBIL - A bomb explosion on Monday evening targeted Shia pilgrims in Al-Kadhimiya area of Baghdad province, sources have revealed.
The explosion took place near the shrine of Imam Musa Al-Kadhim, in Al-Kadhimiya area of Baghdad province, where a suicide bomber blew himself up among the Shia pilgrims near one of the checkpoints, the sources said.
There were casualties and injuries, the sources said, without mentioning a specific number of victims.
The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced earlier the day that suicide attacks had been thwarted, targeting Shia pilgrims as they were heading to the Al-Kadhimiya area, north of the capital Baghdad, to commemorate the death of Imam Al-Kadhim.
The Interior Ministry's intelligence agency said in a statement that its forces managed to arrest 3 terrorists who were recruited and prepared to carry out a suicide terrorist operation to target the visitors of Imam al-Kadhim.
However, Iraq's Security Media Cell confirmed the report and pointed out that a "hand grenade exploded in a garbage dumpster near the Imams Bridge in Baghdad, wounding eight civilians, but no martyrs."