Iraqi officials say insurgents carried out two separate suicide car bombings Thursday, killing at least eight people.
South of Kirkuk (in Tuz Khormato), five people were killed and 16 injured when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near an Iraqi army checkpoint.
A second suicide bomber struck in the city of Samarra, killing at least three people when his car blew up near a joint U.S. - Iraqi patrol.
The attacks come as hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims gather under tight security in the city of Karbala to mark Arbaeen. Many pilgrims have walked to the Shi'ite holy city from towns across Iraq to mark the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, who was killed in a battle nearly 14 centuries ago.
Hussein was the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, and is revered by Shi'ites.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
