140 killed in blasts at Iraq pilgrimage

• Four bombs also explode at Baghdad mosque

• 12 die in Pakistan attack

• US military condemns ‘cowards and terrorists’

MORE than 140 people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in Iraq as thousands of pilgrims gathered for a religious festival.

Several blasts hit crowds of Shia Muslims in the holy city of Karbala, while a further four bombs exploded at a mosque in Baghdad.

At the same time in Pakistan, armed men opened fire on worshippers, killing 12.

This morning’s attacks targeted pilgrims gathered for the Ashura festival, which had been banned under Saddam Hussein.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw immediately condemned the bombings.

He said: "Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to all those people killed."

And he added it was "no coincidence" that the bombers struck on the day of the Shia celebrations and a day after agreement was reached on an interim constitution which he said would pave the way for democracy in Iraq.

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram also condemned the attack.

"It is a terrorist attack designed to create instability," he said.

"It is designed to try to destabilise the growing political consensus."

Coalition and Iraqi forces had bolstered security around Karbala and other Shi’ite-majority towns during the pilgrimage, amid fears about possible terrorist attacks.

There were varying accounts on the cause of the explosions in Karbala, where Polish troops are in charge of security.

Five explosions shook the city, where more than two million Shi’ites from Iraq, Iran and further afield had gathered. At least 70 were killed and hundreds were wounded.

Four explosions hit Baghdad’s holiest Shi’ite mosque, the Kadhimiya mosque in the north of the city, killing a further 75. Scores more were wounded.

The US military said in a statement that "those initiating these attacks are cowards and terrorists".

Officers said the Baghdad blasts may have been caused by mortars or suicide bombs, but had no information on who was behind them.

Eyewitnesses reported that the bombs in Karbala had been hidden in carts or in piles of refuse.

One witness said one blast went off as Iranian pilgrims were performing rituals of self-flagellation.

"They were beating themselves and then I heard a big explosion from a cart near to them," said Hassan Hadi.

"I turned and saw this carnage," he added, pointing to a mass of blood and body parts still lying across the road.

No one claimed responsibility for the blasts. Some Iraqis quickly blamed the Iranians. Two Iranian men were seized on by an angry mob and beaten before being pulled into a mosque by police.

In Beirut, a spokesman for Iraq’s leading Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, blamed American soldiers for the attacks, saying they were responsible for the security.

Sheik Hamed Khafaf said US officials had ignored repeated requests to bolster security for the pilgrims.

The pilgrims were celebrating Ashura, the 10th day of the month of Muharram when according to tradition Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, was killed in battle more than 13 centuries ago.

Hamid al-Bayati, a senior official with the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said: "This criminal act, shows that the terrorists respect no boundaries, that they will kill visitors, pilgrims from Iraq and innocents of all kinds," said

"The people behind this act are what remains of the regime, backed by people like al-Qaida with the goal of igniting civil strife, but we and the rest of the Iraqi people are aware of this danger and will not succumb to it."

Paramedics in Karbala rushed the injured to a makeshift open-air hospital. Some of the dead were taken away in garbage trucks, others covered by black shrouds.

Shi’ites who had earlier gashed open their heads with swords as part of the ceremony queued up to give blood to help the wounded.

In Pakistan, armed men opened fire on Shi’ite Muslim worshippers during the procession in the city of Quetta.

At least 12 were killed more than 30 were injured in the attack.

Officials reported an explosion and gunfire in a congested area of the city.

Soon after, a Sunni Muslim mosque, a television network office and several shops were set on fire as Shi’ites rioted.

In a separate attack in Baghdad, guerrillas threw a bomb at a US military vehicle today, killing one American soldier and seriously wounding another. The death took to 379 the number of US soldiers killed in action since the start of the war.