Twin Iraqi bombings kill 60

The attack was the deadliest single incident in Iraq since 63 people died in a truck bomb blast in Baghdad on June 17 last year, and came amid growing concerns that a recent drop in violence might turn out to have been just a temporary lull.

At least 125 people were wounded in the apparently coordinated blasts at the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine in the Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya, police said. Many of the dead and wounded were Iranian Shiite pilgrims.

Police said the attackers approached two different gates to the shrine, which has been a frequent target in the past. One of the bombers detonated the explosives just inside a courtyard of the shrine, which contains the tombs of two important holy men, or imams. The blasts on the Muslim holy day followed two suicide bombs on Thursday, one in Baghdad and the other in the northeastern province of Diyala, in which at least 89 people died.

Most of the 57 dead in Diyala were Iranians, who have flocked to Iraq's Shiite holy sites in the millions since Sunni Arab dictator Saddam Hussein was ousted in the 2003 invasion. While violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically over the past year, insurgent groups such as al-Qaeda still carry out frequent attacks.
Suicide bombings are a hallmark of Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda. The latest attacks coincide with growing fears of a resurgence in violence as U.S. troops prepare to pull out of Iraqi cities in June, ahead of a full U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011, and amid doubts over the effectiveness of Iraqi forces. A national election at the end of the year has also heightened apprehensions as political parties and armed groups jostle for dominance of the oil-producing nation.