13 Feb 2011

Bus bomber kills pilgrims

6:05 am on 13 February 2011

A suicide bomber in Iraq has killed at least 27 people in an attack on a bus carrying Shia pilgrims.

The BBC reports attacks on pilgrims have claimed hundreds of lives in recent months.

Samarra houses an important mosque and shrine to the 9th Century imam Hassan al-Askari. Saturday marks the annual commemoration of the imam's death.

The bus full of pilgrims was leaving Samarra after visiting the shrine when the bomb exploded.

The al-Askari mosque was largely destroyed in a massive bombing in 2006.