BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded Saturday as Shiite pilgrims were boarding minibuses in Baghdad, killing at least six people.
It was the third consecutive day that extremists targeted travellers en route to the holy city of Karbala.
Despite the violence, hundreds of thousands of worshippers streamed toward the twin golden-domed mosques amid tight security in the city south of Baghdad. Men and women filed through separate metal gates to be searched.
The explosives-laden car blew up about 9 a.m. near minibuses assembled to pick up pilgrims in Baghdad's mainly Shiite district of Shaab.
It was the latest in a series of bombings targeting Shiites heading to Karbala for a major religious festival that culminates this weekend.
The deadliest was a female suicide bombing on Thursday that killed at least 18 pilgrims resting on the side of the road south of Baghdad.
