A suicide bomber has detonated an explosives belt among Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq, killing at least 17 people, while militants shot dead a family of five, officials say.
The attack on the pilgrims in the Dura area of south Baghdad took place on Thursday at a tent where they are served food and drinks on their way to the shrine city of Karbala, and also wounded at least 35 people, security and medical officials said.
Hundreds of thousands of people make pilgrimages to Karbala, many of them on foot, during the 40 days after the annual commemoration marking the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, known to Shi'ites as Imam Hussein.
The 40th day, known as Arbaeen, falls on December 23 this year.
Sunni militants, including those linked to al-Qaeda, frequently target members of Iraq's Shi'ite majority, whom they consider to be apostates.
The throngs of pilgrims on the roads make for an easy target, and they have been hit by a series of attacks in recent days.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomber targeted Shi'ite pilgrims in Khales, north of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 10.
The toll would likely have been higher were it not for the selfless actions of a policeman who embraced the bomber just before the attack, in an effort to shield others from the blast.
On Tuesday, two attacks against pilgrims in and near Baghdad killed at least eight people, and on Monday two car bombs targeting pilgrims south of the capital killed at least 24 people.
Also on Thursday, militants dressed in army uniforms attacked the house of an anti-al-Qaeda militiaman in the Abu Ghraib area, west of Baghdad, killing him, his wife and their three children.
The Sahwa militia are made up of Sunni Arab tribesmen who joined forces with the United States from late 2006, helping to bring about a significant reduction in violence.
They are frequently targeted by Sunni militants, who consider them traitors.
