Rocket kills 7 Shiite pilgrims

Seven people were killed in Iraq’s northwest Saturday when a rocket landed amid a gathering of Shiite Muslims marking their most important holiday of the year.

The young pilgrims had just completed reenactments of the slaying of the prophet Muhammad’s grandson and revered saint, Imam Hussein, when the Katyusha rocket exploded. Another seven people were critically injured in the attack in Tall Afar, 240 miles northwest of Baghdad.

It was the third day of violence surrounding the Ashura holiday, coming on the heels of deadly clashes in the south between security forces and a Shiite cult intent on disrupting the occasion. The fighting in Basra and Nasiriya ended Saturday, but it was unclear how many people had been killed, and some officials lowered the death toll without explanation.

Some government reports said more than 80 cult members and Iraqi security officers had died, but others said 43 were killed.

The outbreak of violence in the south was an embarrassment for Iraqi security forces in the area who had been intent on maintaining order in the wake of Britain’s transfer of the region last month.

Pre-holiday attacks began Thursday with a suicide bombing outside a Shiite mosque in Baqubah, which killed at least nine people.

Still, Ashura passed with fewer deaths than in some recent years, when Sunni militants have staged suicide bombings and mortar attacks.

In Karbala, where Imam Hussein is said to be buried, an estimated 2 million pilgrims converged for the holiday.

Haider Mahnah, who had traveled south from Baghdad, said, “There is a very large improvement in security this year. We came to Karbala along a very clear, secure road. In past years, there had been so much violence along that road.”

In the northwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Kadhimiya, where an important shrine is located, scores more gathered, beating themselves with chains and swords in homage to Hussein’s suffering.

Ayoub Sabri, an electricity worker attending with his daughter, said, “I’m not afraid of the risks. Anyone who comes here today should have a strong heart.”

Meanwhile, in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a suicide bomber attacked a group of Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers standing at the entrance to a police station. The attack was followed by another seconds later. The Iraqi and U.S. forces shot a third man before he was able to carry out yet another attack, authorities said. Two Iraqi officers were killed, police said.

In Najaf, a spokesman for firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr hinted that his Mahdi Army militia may resume activities next month. “We wanted the security forces to have the upper hand, but we have discovered that there are criminal gangs within the security forces,” Salah Ubaidi said.

But Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said in an interview with The Times that he expected the militia’s cease-fire to continue for at least six more months as Sadr seeks to regroup.

“The chain of command is disrupted, it is confused,” Petraeus said. “The chain of command is fractured somewhat. Some groups certainly have gone off on their own, and some are just criminals.”

garrett.therolf@latimes.com

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Special correspondents in Baghdad, Basra and Ramadi contributed to this report.