A car bomb targeting pilgrims in Iraq killed three people and wounded 25 others on Saturday, during major Ashura commemorations, AFP quoted officials as saying.

A car bomb targeting pilgrims in Iraq killed three people and wounded 25 others on Saturday, during major Ashura commemorations, AFP quoted officials as saying.

The bomb exploded about 1:30 pm (1030 GMT) at a restaurant where three buses carrying pilgrims were parked on a highway near Balad, north of Baghdad, a police officer said.

Jawad Abdul Kadhim, the head of the Balad hospital, said the attack killed an Iranian woman and two Iraqi men and wounded 25 people, including Pakistanis.

The pilgrims were on their way to visit 11th Imam Hasan Al-Askari's (as) shrine in Samarra, which militants bombed in February 2006.