Bomb blasts in Iraq leave pilgrims dead

More than 30 people have been killed in two separate incidents in Iraq coinciding with the final day of the Ashura festival, according to reports.

The Shi'ite festival has been the scene of sectarian violence before, and today bombs went off in the Kurdish town of Khanaqin and the eastern region of Beladruz.

Around 13 people are thought to have died in Khanaqin - which has a majority Shi'ite Kurd population ? after a bomb was left in a rubbish bin.

In Beladruz pilgrims had gathered outside a Shi'ite mosque when a suicide bomber detonated himself among the crowd, killing at least 23 people according to the BBC.

Around 90 people are reported to have been injured in the attacks, with Beladruz considered to be a normally peaceful town.

The Ashura festival marks the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson in the 6th century.

The event has traditionally been a target of radical Sunni extremists, with previous attacks focusing on Kerbala and Baghdad.