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Female Bomber Kills 40 At Shrine

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The Washington Post

Published: January 5, 2009

BAGHDAD - A woman wearing an explosive belt packed with ball bearings blew herself up in Baghdad near one of Iraq's most sacred Shiite shrines, killing as many as 40 other people and wounding scores more in a devastating attack that shattered festive celebrations ahead of one of Shiite Islam's holiest days.

The blast, just 20 yards from an entrance to the gold-domed Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine, tore through a crowd of Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims waiting to enter through a checkpoint, witnesses said. As a woman, the assailant was able to evade the multitude of security measures that ring the shrine in northern Baghdad, officials said.

The Interior Ministry said 40 people were killed, 16 of them Iranian pilgrims, and 72 were wounded. The U.S. military put the toll at 36 killed and 36 wounded.

Witnesses said the explosives were packed with ball bearings to kill as many people as possible. It was the most devastating attack in Iraq since a suicide bomber killed 57 people at a meeting of Arab and Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk on Dec. 11.

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