A suicide car bomb tore through buses carrying Iranian pilgrims Thursday near a Shiite shrine in the holy Iraqi city of Kufa, killing at least 12 people and injuring 40, authorities said.
The attack occurred about 7:15 a.m. near the Maitham al-Tamar shrine and just down the street from the revered Kufa mosque in the southern city. According to the AP, Tehran condemned the attack and called on the Iraqi government to bring those responsible to justice.
Police at the scene said the suicide bomber was driving a minivan behind two buses and detonated his explosives as the pilgrims were getting off. The buses were destroyed and a mosaic-lined wall of the shrine was damaged.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also denounced the bombing. "It was meant to shake the stability in Najaf," said his aide, Sahib al-Amiri.
The attack came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned to Iraq after a regional tour to gain support for his 24-point national reconciliation plan. The Shiite leader on Wednesday demanded an independent inquiry of the rape-slaying of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family by US soldiers.
The attack in Kufa also took place a day after the U.S. military predicted a rise in car blasts now that Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as head of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Masri is an explosives expert.
In other violence Thursday, according to authorities, a former judge during Saddam's regime was killed and his son was wounded in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad. Gunmen also killed a real estate broker at his office in Mosul.
Meanwhile, police found the bodies of six people who had been handcuffed and shot in the head in three different locations in Baghdad.
