Bomb blasts in Baghdad aimed at Shi'ite Muslims have killed at least 19 people and wounded scores of others.
Suicide bombers who mingled with worshippers outside two mosques and then detonated explosives Friday caused the heaviest casualties.
The attacks came on the eve of Ashoura, the most solemn holy day in the Shi'ite Muslim religious calendar.
Similar attacks targeting Shi'ites at the time of Ashoura last year killed more than 170 people.
Religious authorities have launched an urgent appeal for blood donations and aid for those maimed by today's bombs.
The first suicide attack, in a southern neighborhood Dora of the Iraqi capital, killed at least 14 people outside the al-Khadimain mosque.
Police shot two suicide bombers approaching a mosque in another Shi'ite area of western Baghdad, but one of the attackers still managed to detonate his explosives, killing at least one person.
Authorities say mortar shells also killed at least two people in a third Shi'ite neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad.
Information for this report is provided by AP and AFP.
