BAGHDAD, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- At least 30 Shiite pilgrims were killed in Iraq Saturday when a suicide bomber stepped onto their bus, officials said.
The victims were returning to Baghdad from the golden-domed shrine in Samarra, where a huge bombing in 2006 set off years of sectarian warfare, The New York Times reported.
Saturday was the anniversary of the death of Imam Hassan al-Askari in 874, a major Shiite day of pilgrimage.
The bomber struck at a checkpoint on the Samarra-Baghdad highway. Checkpoints often cause traffic jams that leave vehicles vulnerable, the report said.
An Iraqi television channel reported that the attacker was speaking with police seconds before he blew up his vest.
No one took responsibility, but security officials were swift to blame al-Qaida in Mesopotamia.
"Checkpoints cannot prevent such operations," said Falah al-Naqeeb, a former interior minister. "We have a problem in our security strategy. It really depends on intelligence to prevent such attacks."
On Thursday, a car bomb killed nine pilgrims heading to the Samarra shrine.
Hundreds of Shiite pilgrims have been murdered in recent months, the BBC reports.
