Four people were killed when a powerful car bomb exploded Saturday in Baghdad, Iraq, near Shiite Muslims preparing for an annual pilgrimage, police officials said.
Twenty-six people were wounded in the blast in the capital city’s Karrada district, according to the officials. It happened near the site where people were getting ready to set off next week for a traditional pilgrimage to commemorate the death of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, one of 12 revered imams in Shiite Islam.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the violence.
While Baghdad hasn’t been hit as hard by ISIS as other parts of the country, it has seen plenty of bloodshed in recent years — much of it tied to persisting tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Shiite pilgrims have often been among the victims; thousands have been killed or wounded over the past decade.
Last May, at least 21 people died in Baghdad and dozens were wounded in three attacks targeting Shiite Muslims from around Iraq who had converged on Baghdad’s Kadhimiya neighborhood.