Security forces inspect the site where a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into a police checkpoint in the town of Al Alam near Tikrit yesterday.


AFP/Baghdad


Violence across Iraq, including bombings against Shias, killed 30 people yesterday as worshippers massed in a shrine city on the eve of major commemoration rituals often targeted by militants.
The bloodshed was the latest in a months-long surge in unrest that has forced Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to appeal for US help in combatting militancy, with Iraqi security forces having failed to stem the violence.
Bombings mostly struck north and west of Baghdad, targeting Shia Muslims and members of the security forces.
On the outskirts of Baquba, north of the capital and one of Iraq’s most violent areas, three co-ordinated bombs struck a gathering of Shia pilgrims marking Ashura.
Eight people were killed and 28 others were wounded in the blasts, security and medical officials said.
Millions of Shias from Iraq and around the world mark Ashura, which this year climaxes on Thursday, by setting up procession tents where food is distributed to passersby and pilgrims can gather.
Some 2mn will make the pilgrimage, often on foot, to the Iraqi city of Karbala, which is home to a shrine to Imam Hussein.
Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda, who regard Shias as apostates, often step up their targeting of Iraq’s majority community during Ashura and the subsequent rituals of Arbaeen, including by attacking pilgrims.
Security measures have been stepped up, with more than 35,000 soldiers and policemen currently deployed to Karbala and surrounding areas, with concentric security perimeters barring vehicles from entering the city while helicopters hover overhead.
Elsewhere in Iraq yesterday, attacks mostly targeting security forces killed 22 people, while police gunned down three militants in a raid.
East of the predominantly Sunni Arab city of Tikrit, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives at a police checkpoint, killing 11 people, including three policemen.
And near the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah, two bombs targeted the homes of policemen, followed by a third that went off as onlookers gathered at the scene, leaving four dead overall.
Violence around Baghdad and in northern Iraq killed seven others.
Yesterday’s deaths were the latest in Iraq’s worst violence since 2008, with more than 5,600 people killed this year.