BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb struck Shi'ite pilgrims journeying through southern Baghdad on Wednesday to mark a major religious rite, killing one and wounding five in southern Baghdad.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over Iraq will be making the pilgrimage on foot to the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala this week to mark Arbain, one of the holiest events in the Shi'ite calendar.
The day marks the end of a 40-day mourning period after the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in the seventh century.
The pilgrimage, one of several annual mass rites, has become a show of strength for Iraq's majority Shi'ite community, which was repressed under former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Overall violence in Iraq has fallen to the lowest levels since the U.S. invasion in 2003. But pilgrims are often targets of attacks, usually blamed on Sunni militants.
Pilgrims, dressed in black and often carrying colourful flags and banners, are particularly vulnerable as they walk on foot for days to reach Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad.
On Sunday, two pilgrims were killed and 11 wounded by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
The U.S. military says Iraq's ability to ensure safety for Arbain will be an important challenge after January 31 provincial elections that were held without any major militant attacks.
(Reporting and writing by Aseel Kami; editing by Peter Graff and Michael Roddy)
