A car bomb explosion tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims returning home from a religious commemoration in Iraq killing at least 20, officials said.

A bomb has killed at least 15 Shiite pilgrims near the southern Iraqi port city of Basra.

A WAVE of bombings targeting Shi’ites in Iraq have killed 72 people, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded after the last American troops left the country in mid- December.

A suicide car bomb struck Baghdad’s Shiite militia stronghold today, killing at least 18 people as international envoys met in the Iraqi capital to talk about stabilising the violence-shattered country.