According to reports, a suicide bomber killed 53 people in an apparent sectarian attack in southern Iraq casting a fade over the climax of a Shia pilgrimage that draws hundreds of thousands from around the world. The attack on Shia devotees on the outskirts of the port city of Basra, which left 137 wounded, came with Iraq mired in a political row that has rutted the Shia-led government against the main Sunni-backed bloc and stoked sectarian tensions less than a month after US forces completed their pullout. The violence was the latest in a spate of attacks against Shia pilgrims in the two weeks leading to the conclusion of Arbaeen, which marks 40 days after the Ashura anniversary. The death toll was the highest since attacks on Shias in Baghdad and southern Iraq killed 70 people on December 5. This year is the first time Iraqi troops have been solely charged with security for Arbaeen since the US-led invasion of 2003. American troops, who previously helped with surveillance and reconnaissance, completed their withdrawal from Iraq last month. 1

• 1. “Iraq suicide bomber kills 53 pilgrims,” Khaleej Times, January 14, 2012, at
  http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2...