The attack comes after security forces killed a suicide bomber who tried to blow himself up on Sunday.
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Police said that another blast struck pilgrims in the Shaab neighbourhood, in the city’s north, killing at least six and injuring 17 others.
They were the first attacks on Shia pilgrims in Baghdad during the lead-up to Arbaeen, which is often marked by violence despite tight security measures to protect the pilgrims, many of whom travel to Karbala by foot, the AP reported.
Arbaeen marks the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a central figure in Shiite Islam.
The Iraqi military’s joint operations command has asked Ramadi residents to leave the city and go to the Hamriya district in anticipation of an operation to liberate the Anbar provincial capital from the Islamic State, the Iraqi defense ministry said in a Monday statement.
A security source told the BBC leaflets had been dropped by airplanes, warning residents the military meant to storm the city inside the next 24 hours. Pre-war Ramadi had a population of over 500,000 people, though there have been several exoduses in previous battles so it’s unclear how many are actually left.
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Powerful Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim armed groups on Tuesday rejected and pledged to fight any deployment of USA forces to the country after the United States said it was sending an elite special operations unit to combat Islamic State.
