Armed Attack On Iranian Shi’ite Pilgrims In Iraq Injures Nine People

An armed attack on a bus in Iraq carrying Iranian Shi’ite pilgrims has injured at least eight passengers and the driver.

The bus was traveling on February 3 from Samarra to Baghdad when it was targeted by unidentified gunmen about 50 kilometers north of Baghdad.

A local official told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that the attack occurred at about 7 p.m. and that all of the injured were taken to the hospital. Six of the wounded were released, he said.

The three others were more seriously injured and have been transported to a hospital in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Security conditions in the Iraqi countryside continue to be unsteady. Armed Sunni insurgents in the past have carried out attacks on Shi’ite Muslim residents and pilgrims.

In September 2017, at least three suicide bombers struck a state-run power plant in Samarra, killing seven people and injuring several others in an attack claimed by the extremist Islamic State (IS) group.

Samarra, which is in Iraq's Salaheddin Province, is about 110 kilometers north of Baghdad.

The city hosts a major Iraqi security headquarters and is also home to an important Shi'ite shrine.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda and AP