Bomb hidden under wheelchair kills 1, injures 6 in Iraq

• Story Highlights
• 3 people dead, 15 injured in roadside attack in southeastern Baghdad
• Pilgrims on way to Karbala for al-Arbaeen, one of holiest days on Shia calendar
• U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, coalition forces condemn attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A disabled, wheelchair-bound man blew himself up on Monday in a northern Iraqi police station, killing a top police official and wounding six police officers, police told CNN.

The attack, which occurred in Samarra in Salaheddin province, reflects official concern over the innovative tactics employed by insurgents in Iraq. Bombs, have been placed inside dead animals and hidden in carts. And in recent days, vagrants have been involved in bombings.

A high-ranking official with Samarra police said that the man came to meet with Brig. Gen. Abdul Jabbar Rabei Muttar, the deputy commander of security, at the security operations building in the city. The pair met last week as well.

The man was searched when he entered the building, but police didn’t look under his wheelchair seat, where the explosives had been placed. The man detonated the explosives when Muttar approached him.

Also Monday, a roadside bomb exploded in the middle of a crowd of Shiite Muslims in southeastern Baghdad on Monday, killing three and wounding 15, an Interior Ministry official told CNN.

The strike, in the Zafaraniya district, is the latest in a flurry of attacks against pilgrims trekking to Karbala for al-Arbaeen, one of the holiest days of the Shiite religious calendar. It falls on Wednesday this year.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber in Iskandariya killed at least 45 people and wounded 68 others, and armed militants attacked pilgrims in southern Baghdad, killing three and wounding more than 30 others.

Most of the pilgrims make their way to Karbala on foot as a demonstration of piety and as part of tradition, and those who head to the city from Baghdad go through Babil province, where Iskandariya is located.

Joint forces have stepped up patrols during the pilgrimage to protect the thousands headed to Karbala. Last year, more than 180 pilgrims were killed in a series of attacks, most from twin suicide bombings in Hilla, the Babil provincial capital.

Sunday’s attack in Iskandariya, conducted by a bomber wearing an explosives vest, prompted authorities in the city to replace its police chief, police in Hilla told CNN.

More National Police officers have been deployed to Babil to ensure the safety of the pilgrims heading to Karbala, the police official said.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and coalition forces issued a condemnation of Sunday’s “barbaric attacks in Baghdad and Iskandariya” against “innocent citizens participating in an important religious commemoration.”

“This indiscriminate violence further reflects the nature of this enemy who will target even those practicing their religion in an effort to reignite sectarian strife in Iraq,” according to a statement issued Monday.

“Yesterday’s tragic attacks further demonstrate the importance of national unity and resolve in countering these terrorists. We will work closely with the government of Iraq and their security forces to help bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice.”

Every year, thousands of pilgrims mass in Karbala for al-Arbaeen, which commemorates the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Hussein is one of Shiite Islam’s most revered martyrs. He died in battle in the 7th century and is buried in Karbala — about 60 miles to the southwest of the capital city of Baghdad.

The U.S. military on Monday reported another suicide bombing with sectarian overtones, but it did not appear to be related to al-Arbaeen.

A suicide bomber blew up outside a mosque south of Falluja, in Anbar province, and killed two Iraqi police, two civilians and the bomber, a U.S. military statement released Monday said. Twelve civilians were also wounded.

The Friday attack outside the Rahman mosque appeared to have been carried out by an “adolescent,” according to police, the U.S. military statement said. Police are investigating.

The attack happened in Ferris Town, which is about 15 miles south of Falluja or about 35 miles southwest of Baghdad.

CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

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