Suicide bomb kills forty in Iraq

Forty people have been killed and sixty wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a refreshment tent full of Iraqi pilgrims heading to a Shi'ite festival.

The bomb - which consisted of a vest packed with call bearings - happened in the town of Iskandariya, 25 miles south of Baghdad.

The attack is one of the bloodiest this year despite a major tightening of security for the annual festival in the southern holy city of Kerbala.

One victim said: "When we reached the area people invited us into a tent to take some rest and have some food. When we entered, there was a huge ball of fire and we saw people lying on the ground."

Police have said the bomber struck hours after militants killed three pilgrims and wounded 36 others during an attack in southern Baghdad.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police had been deployed for the Arbain festival after 149 pilgrims were killed on their way to Kerbala for the event last year.

Millions of Shi'ite pilgrims are expected in Kerbala for Arbain this week, which celebrates the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, a religious ritual that honours the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson in 680.

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