Female suicide bombers targeted Shia pilgrims in Baghdad and Kurdish political demonstrators in the northern city of Kirkuk on Monday in one of the bloodiest days of violence in recent months. The bombings killed at least 37 people and injured scores of others, officials said, and clashes in Kirkuk prompted by the attack left another 12 people dead.
No evidence emerged to suggest the attacks in the two cities were co-ordinated, but the bombings underscored the political tensions that have potential to fuel regional conflicts across Iraq even as overall levels of violence have fallen.
