51 dead and over 100 injured in Iraq

51 people were killed and more than 100 injured, following an attack on Shia pilgrims in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, yesterday.

While pilgrims walked to a Shia shrine in the town of Balad a suicide bomber killed at least 12 people in a café. The same café witnessed another suicide bombing in August. At the same time two journalists were shot dead in Mosul. The journalists were filming for local TV station al-Sharqiya. Correspondents held that this has angered the Shia-led government with its critical coverage of local events.  Another bombing in the neighbourhood of Bayaa, left at least two dead and 10 wounded. A roadside bomb in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad left a man dead and three injured.

Meanwhile security forces claimed to had killed five militants in clashes in Baiji, and two more in the northern province of Nineveh.

The United Nations report read that around 1,000 people were killed in Iraq during the past month.

No group has as yet claimed responsibility for the attacks of Saturday, however the majority of recent violent strikes have been the work of Sunni organisations linked to al-Qaeda.