A fake Policeman who was a suicide bomber has killed 15 people in an attack that targeted Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims passing through a checkpoint in Iraq’s southern city of Basra.
The bomber detonated his explosives among pilgrims trying to pass through the checkpoint on their way to a major Shi’ite mosque to the west of Basra.
Eleven policemen were among the dead. Forty people were wounded in the attack.
The attack at the end of Arbain, one of the main holy days of the Shi’ite calendar, occurred at a time when a political crisis in Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government has renewed fears of a return to sectarian violence in the country.
Arbain has been the frequent target of militants since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
Scores of people have been killed in attacks on pilgrims in the last few weeks, including a suicide bombing which killed at least 44 in part of a wave of attacks.
Many of the attacks on pilgrims have used methods such as suicide bombings that are the signature of Iraq’s al Qaeda affiliate.
Attacks targeting Shi’ites have also killed dozens of people since Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government issued an arrest warrant for a Sunni vice president, triggering a political crisis that risks scuttling a power-sharing agreement.
Attacks had ebbed since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007 when thousands were killed in intercommunal violence among Shi’ite and Sunni. But the withdrawal of the last American troops in December has fanned worries of a spike in violence.
