ISIS fire targeting Shiite pilgrims on the Kirkuk-Tuz Khurmatu road landed on a bus carrying schoolgirls early Tuesday, killing a pupil and wounding two others, police said.
Sarhad Qadir, chief of police for suburban Kirkuk, told Rudaw that the road had been a special target for the zealous ISIS militants -- attacked with rockets and heavy weapons.
He explained that the targets were the many Shiite pilgrims who were using the road at this time to travel south to the shrine of their revered saint, Imam Hussein, for an important anniversary.
“Today is the anniversary of Imam Hussein. The Shiite people go to Najaf on foot. That is why ISIS fired rockets and heavy weapons into the area,” he said.
Many Shiites, including pilgrims from Iran, travel south for the anniversary known as “arba'een,” marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein’s martyrdom.
Qadir said the wounded girls were being treated in hospital, and that the body of the dead pupil would be handed to her family.