Attacks against Muslim Shiites, including a suicide bombing that ripped through a religious procession, killed 39 people in Iraq Thursday despite massive security deployed for one of the holiest days of the Hijri year.

Attacks against Muslim Shiites, including a suicide bombing that ripped through a religious procession, killed 39 people in Iraq Thursday despite massive security deployed for one of the holiest days of the Muslim Hijri calendar.

The bloodshed came as a flood of worshippers, including tens of thousands of foreign pilgrims, thronged the central holy shrine city of Karbala for the climax of Ashoura, braving the repeated attacks by extremist militants that have marred the festival in previous years.

The suicide bomber struck in a Shiite-majority area of Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killing 30 people and wounding 65, security and medical officials said.

It was the third attack of the day to target Muslim Shiites.

Earlier, coordinated blasts in the town of Hafriyah, south of the capital, killed nine people, while twin bombings in the northern oil city of Kirkuk wounded five.

Muslim Shiites from Iraq and around the world mark Ashoura every year by setting up procession tents where pilgrims gather and food is distributed to Imam Hussein's (as) visitors (Zowwar al-Imam) and passers-by.

Provincial authorities expect two million pilgrims, including 200,000 from outside Iraq, will have visited Karbala in the 10 days leading up to Ashoura, with all of the city's hotels fully booked.

Extremist militants linked to Al-Qaeda, who claim to be Muslims and regard Shiites as apostates, often step up their targeting of Iraq's majority community during Ashoura and Arbaeen by attacking pilgrims.

Security measures have been stepped up, with more than 35,000 soldiers and policemen deployed to Karbala and surrounding areas.