Four killed, 35 wounded in Iraq's Najaf blasts

BAGHDAD, Feb. 12 (Xinhua ) -- Four Iraqi Shiite pilgrims were killed and 35 others injured in three attacks Friday evening near southern Iraqi city of Najaf, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source said.

An Israeli soldier points gun to Palestinians during a protest against  the confiscation of lands at the West Bank village of Nabi Salah in  northern Ramallah, Feb. 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Fadi Arouri)

The first was conducted by a female suicide bomber. The other two were roadside explosive devices. They occurred on a road that links Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad, to Kufa, about seven km east of Najaf, the source said.

Shiite pilgrims were often attacked by insurgents. Earlier this month, more than 60 Shiite pilgrims were killed in explosions targeting them in Baghdad and Karbala when they were observing their religious Arbaeen ritual.

Palestinian protestors burn tyres during a protest against the  confiscation of lands at the West Bank village of Nabi Salah in  northern Ramallah, Feb. 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Fadi Arouri)