A female suicide bomber killed at least 26 people and injured 75 on Thursday when she detonated an explosive vest amid a crowd of Shi'ite pilgrims heading toward a shrine south of Baghdad, police said.
The bomber struck near the town of Iskandariya, 40 km south of the capital. According to Reuters, thousands of pilgrims have started travelling on foot toward Kerbela to mark the birth of the 12th Imam al-Mehdi, who believe he disappeared centuries ago but never died.
In another incident targeting pilgrims on Thursday, a roadside bomb killed one pilgrim and wounded seven as they walked through central Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is recovering from heart surgery in the United States, his office announced on Thursday. Talabani, 74, has not been seen in public since travelling to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on Aug. 2. His office said the heart problem was discovered by doctors while preparing to perform the knee surgery.
"The medical team conducted a full check-up and discovered that Talabani was suffering from a narrowing of one of his heart's valves. The matter was dealt with by a surgical operation which was a complete success," it said in a statement.
The president left the hospital on Thursday and would return to Iraq after completing a recovery period, it said, according to Reuters.
