Rocket attacks launched by militants have killed 16 people in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, police said Wednesday - with a further 22 people injured in the strikes, DPA reported.
The rocket attacks late Tuesday went off near the offices of the Department of Immigration.
Hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims have gathered to mark the anniversary of the birth of a revered 9th century leader known as Imam al-Mahdi in Karbala.
Some 30,000 troops and police forces were deployed in the city, 118 kilometres south of the capital, though attacks in Karbala on Monday left at least 35 people dead.
Since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in the US-led invasion of Iraq 2003, such gatherings in the Shiite holy city have taken on additional meanings as shows of strength and are frequently targeted in sectarian violence.