A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded over 90 today near a Shia shrine in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf.
Hospital sources said the bomber had blown blew himself up at a police commando checkpoint on his way to the Imam Ali shrine, one of the most revered sites in the world for Shia and an annual destination for thousands of pilgrims.
Some of the victims of a suicide bomb attack in Najaf today. The bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded 100 near a sacred Shia shrine.
A doctor said 35 people had been killed and 94 wounded. A Shia television channel said there had been two attacks, including the suicide blast, in the city, which is home to Iraq's top Shia clerics.
An Iraqi insurgent group said it was behind the bombing, according to an Internet posting.
"God enabled your brothers of the Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba (Soldiers of the Prophet's Companions) to carry out an operation which took the lives of at least 30 rejectionists (Shias), including police," said a group statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.
Mostly Shia Najaf has been stable compared to other parts of Iraq, where a Sunni Arab insurgency is aimed at toppling the US-backed government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The United States has boosted its troop levels in Baghdad to try to ease sectarian violence and build confidence in the new Shia-led government, in power since late May.
About 6,000 additional Iraqi forces and 3,500 US soldiers are being deployed in the Baghdad area, and are expected to start trying to clear neighbourhoods of militants and insurgents.
Separately, the US military it was still looking for two servicemen missing since Tuesday when their Blackhawk helicopter crashed in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, west of Baghdad.