Bombs kill 2 Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad

Roadside bombs killed two Shiite pilgrims amid a string of explosions in Baghdad on Friday, the day after the country's deadliest sectarian violence in more than a year left scores dead, officials said.     

At least three roadside bombs exploded in the morning in different parts of the capital, wounding 17 people in addition to the two killed, police and hospital officials said.     

They hit Shiite pilgrims making their way toward the sacred city of Karbala for a holy day.     

Several new explosions could be heard around midday. Police said they were rockets and mortar rounds. At least two buildings in northern and central Baghdad were hit, wounding 10 people, police and hospital officials said.      

Baghdad military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said some of the projectiles landed outside the capital's heavily protected Green Zone. He said they were intended to disrupt an annual army parade happening within, and were a sign that insurgents are trying "to prove their presence."            

AP