Gunmen killed 22 Iraqi Shia pilgrims in an ambush in Anbar province in Iraq.
The pilgrims were travelling from the southern Iraqi city of Kerbala to Syria when they were shot at a checkpoint set up by the gunmen, a police spokesman said.
A security source in Anbar police said the incident took place south of the town of Rutba, 360kms west of Baghdad.
The source said the remaining pilgrims, including 15 women, 12 children and two elderly men, had been put in the care of the head of Kerbala's provincial council.
