Bombs in Iraq kill 15, injure 75

The Shiite pilgrims on their way to Karbala for the annual Shabaniyah festival were killed in a roadside bombing, and a suicide bomber killed protesters who were demonstrating in Tuz Khormato.

Bombings on Tuesday on a demonstration and a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims killed 15 people in Iraq and injured 75 in the latest attacks in a wave of sectarian violence engulfing the country.

Twelve people were killed and 60 injured when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a demonstration in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km north of Baghdad, security officials said.

The demonstrators were protesting recent attacks in the city, which has a majority ethnic Turkmen population.

The deputy leader of the Turkmen Front party was among the dead in Tuesday’s attack, police said.

Three more people were killed and 15 injured when a bomb tore apart a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Baghdad to Karbala to celebrate a religious festival.

Iraq has seen a sharp increase in violence in recent months amid protests by the Sunni Arab minority against the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

More than 1,000 Iraqis, the vast majority civilians, were killed in attacks in May, according to the United Nations.