Shia pilgrims from India and Pakistan ambushed and killed on their way to see the shrine of Imam Hussein (Iraq)

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Fourteen pilgrims from Pakistan and India have been ambushed and killed on their way to the Shia holy city of Karbala, Iraqi police have said.

The pilgrims, believed to be 11 Pakistanis and three Indians, were shot dead at close range, police said.

The motive for the attack is not clear but it comes amid increasing fears of sectarian strife in Iraq.

A US Defense Department report on Friday warned of mounting violence between the Sunni and Shia communities.

Police and hospital sources said the pilgrims were ambushed as they travelled in a minibus through Anbar province in western Iraq, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents.

It is thought the attack took place up to three days ago, but reports vary.

The pilgrims reportedly had their hands and legs bound and had been shot at close range.

Conflicting accounts suggest women were among those killed.

The pilgrims were understood to be on their way to Karbala, 80km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, to the shrine of Imam Hussein, one of the founders of the Shia branch of Islam.

The ambush happened at a service station in the desert, about 160km (100 miles) west of Ramadi, which has been the scene of numerous killings in recent months, the BBC's James Shaw in Baghdad reports.

It is not clear what the motive for the attack was with some reports suggesting they were ambushed by robbers who stole their belongings.

However, Shia pilgrims, both Iraqi and foreign, have been frequent targets for attack, and last month, gunmen opened fire on pilgrims in Baghdad, killing at least 20 people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5308016.stm

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More details from rediff.com. It appears that only men were killed, no women.:

In a gruesome act, three Indian and eleven Pakistani pilgrims were shot dead...

[...]

Identifying the three as Jaffer Mashadi of Vishakhapatnam, M Beigh and Mohammad Ahmad Ali, both hailing from Hyderabad, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said that they were part of a group of 40 pilgrims from India and Pakistan.

[...]

Citing information received from the Indian Mission in Baghdad, Ahamed said that armed men intercepted the pilgrims' vehicle on August 31, segregated male members of the group and whisked them away.

[...]

The group had entered Iraq through Syria and a travel agent arranged it.

Karbala City Health Director Salim Kadhim was quoted by AFP as saying two of the victims are elderly men, two young men in their 20s and others are middle-aged.

He said they were killed on a route that comes across the desert from Iraq's western border past the city of Bamadi, a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents, who are often blamed for attacking Shiite Iraqi and foreign pilgrims going to Karbala.

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He said they were killed on a route that comes across the desert from Iraq's western border past the city of Bamadi, a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents, who are often blamed for attacking Shiite Iraqi and foreign pilgrims going to Karbala.

Take another route....?

other than that... it is despicable. tribal warfare/violence dressed up in politics dressed up in religion.