BAGHDAD – Gunmen in four cars opened fire Wednesday on a convoy of buses carrying Iranian pilgrims through Iraq, killing five of them, Iraqi police said.

Some 35 others were also wounded in the attack, which took place near the village of Kebasi north of the capital. The convoy was part of the movement of millions pilgrims — many of them from neighboring Iran — visiting the southern holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala throughout the year.

The police official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Under the previous Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, Shiite pilgrims, especially from Iran, were discouraged from visiting the holy cities. The pilgrims have since his ouster become a major target of Sunni insurgents.

The U.S. military also said that two attackers and a bystander were killed Tuesday when an American convoy was attacked in the Abu Ghraib area west of the capital.

Lt. Col. Philip Smith, the U.S. military spokesman said the attack involved grenades and small arms fire. Four other civilians were also wounded.

"The grenades the enemy were attempting to throw exploded," Smith said in an e-mail message. "Additional enemy forces fired small arms fire at the convoy from a nearby alley."

An Iraqi police official gave a conflicting account, however, saying four civilians — a boy and three bus drivers — were killed when U.S. forces opened fire on the attackers near a bus station. He requested anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

Resident Jabbar Jassim told The Associated Press that he believes it was American gunfire that killed his 11-year-old son, Hisham, while they were waiting in line at the bus station.

Under an Iraqi-U.S. security pact, American combat troops withdrew from the country's cities last month and now patrol in urban areas during the day only with Iraqi permission.

Smith said the convoy was on its way to an Iraqi police station to participate in a joint exercise.

___

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.







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