(CBS/AP) A roadside bomb killed three people on a Shiite pilgrimage Monday morning as they traveled through the outskirts of Baghdad, while the death toll in a suicide bombing Sunday that struck a refreshment tent filled with pilgrims has risen to 56, Iraqi authorities said.
In all, extremists have attacked pilgrims headed to the holy city of Karbala three times in the past two days.
The suicide bomber detonated himself among pilgrims taking a break at a roadside tent for a bite to eat and tea. The blast killed at least 56 people and injured 68, according to police and Dr. Mahmoud Abdul-Rida, director of the Babil health department.
Hours earlier, extremists attacked another group with guns and grenades in the predominantly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, killing three and wounding 36, police said.
Monday's roadside bombing, in addition to killing three people, also wounded 15, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
The suicide bomber targeted travelers near Iskandariyah, as authorities have fortified the capital and Karbala to in an attempt to keep away extremists.
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad and U.S. military forces issued a joint statement Monday condemning the attacks.
"Those killed and wounded in yesterday's barbaric attacks in Baghdad and Iskandariyah were innocent citizens participating in an important religious commemoration," it said. "This indiscriminate violence further reflects the nature of this enemy who will target even those practicing their religion in an effort to re-ignite sectarian strife in Iraq."
Karbala is burial site of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures, where ceremonies will culminate Wednesday to commemorate the end of the 40-day mourning period following the anniversary of his death.
Separately, six pilgrims drowned Saturday in a boat accident on the Tigris River.
Meanwhile, Turkish troops fired dozens of salvos of artillery shells across the Iraqi border on Monday, a day after the military confirmed that a Turkish helicopter crashed in Iraq and eight military personnel were killed during a cross-border ground operation against Kurdish rebels.
The sound of the artillery fire from a distance could be heard in this border town of Cukurca. Several military bases that support the incursion into Iraq are on its outskirts, and artillery units have been positioned on hilltops overlooking Iraq.
Turkey began the ground operation Thursday to target autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels who attack Turkey from hideouts on the Iraqi side of the border.
The guerrillas said Sunday they shot down a Turkish military helicopter near the Turkish-Iraqi border.
Turkey's military said technicians were inspecting the wreck to determine why the helicopter crashed near the border. It was not clear if any of the reported casualties were on board.
The military did not specify on its Web site whether the eight fatalities were troops or pro-government village guards, local residents who are familiar with the terrain and accompany the military on operations against the rebels. NTV said three village guards had been slain, but did not say when or where they died.
The Turkish toll since the start of the incursion Thursday is 15, according to military figures.
The armed forces say 33 rebels were killed in Sunday's fighting, bringing the rebel death toll since Thursday to 112.
The incursion is the first confirmed Turkish military ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, are fighting for autonomy in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey and have carried out attacks on Turkish targets from bases in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The conflict started in 1984 and has claimed as many as 40,000 lives.
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