Bombs kill 2 Iraqis on way to religious ceremony

Bombs hidden in trash cans exploded near a group of pilgrims in a town north of Baghdad, killing two people yesterday as millions of Shiites headed to ceremonies to mark a day of mourning.
Police said four blasts struck the procession in the town of Dujail, located some 50 (80 kilometers) miles north of Baghdad. Six people were also wounded in the attack, police and hospital officials said.
Two more bombs were discovered and disarmed before they exploded, said a local police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
Earlier, a roadside bomb wounded three pilgrims in the downtown Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah, police said.
Shiite pilgrims from across Iraq are headed to the holy Shiite city of Karbala for Ashoura, which marks the seventh century death of Imam Hussein in a killing that sealed Islam's historic Sunni-Shiite split.
Provincial spokesman Saeed Mohammed Saeed estimated that three million Shiites are expected to converge on Karbala, south of Baghdad, by the time Ashoura peaks on Friday morning after a night-long ritual of prayers, speeches and self-flagellation.
Many of the pilgrims march on foot to Karbala, and are frequently targeted by Sunni insurgents who seek to re-ignite sectarian violence in Iraq.