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Suicide bomber kills 12 in Iraq


    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A female suicide bomber blew up an explosive vest amid a group of Shi'ite pilgrims near the town of Iskandariya south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 12 people and wounding 27, police said.

    Thousands of pilgrims have begun travelling on foot towardthe holy city of Kerbala south of Baghdad to commemorate thebirth of the 12th Imam, a Messiah-like figure revered byShi'ite Muslims.

    Authorities say they have a security plan in place for thepilgrimage which reaches its height on Sunday.

    In another incident, a roadside bomb killed one pilgrim andwounded seven as they walked through central Baghdad's Karradaneighbourhood embarking on the pilgrimage.

    Three female suicide bombers killed nearly 30 people andwounded nearly 100 last month when they blew themselves up amidcrowds during another pilgrimage in the capital Baghdad.

    U.S. and Iraqi authorities say al Qaeda Sunni Arabmilitants have increasingly relied on women to conduct suicideattacks, as they can evade security searches.

    Pilgrimages, often attended by hundreds of thousands ofworshippers several times a year, have become a ritual show ofstrength for Iraq's Shi'ite majority since the fall of SaddamHussein, a Sunni Arab who restricted Shi'ite religiouspractice.