Tens of thousands flock to Baghdad shrine braving bomb threat

Tens of thousands of Shiite faithful converged on a north Baghdad shrine on Tuesday for the peak of an annual pilgrimage, braving the threat of attack after two jihadist bombings.

The attacks claimed by Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group killed at least 37 people but did not deter huge crowds of black-clad pilgrims from visiting the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim to commemorate his death.

An official from the shrine said that "millions" of people participated in the pilgrimage in recent days, and that more details would be released later on Tuesday.

Many of the main thoroughfares in Baghdad are closed in the days leading up to the annual commemoration of Imam Kadhim's death, an important date in the Shiite Muslim calendar.