At least 24 people were killed and 80 injured Thursday in two bomb attacks south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, civil defence officials said, dpa reported.
The first explosion occurred in a working-class district in the city of Hilla, some 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, as crowds were gathering to attend Shiite Muslim commemorations for the mourning day of Ashoura, the officials told dpa.
A second explosion shortly followed, causing heavy casualties, they added.
Ashoura marks the death of Shiite Imam Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of the Muslim prophet Mohammed's grandson, who was killed in a battle more than 1400 years ago in the Iraqi city of Karbala.
Religious feasts and ceremonies have frequently been targets of bomb attacks in Iraq.
Shiite pilgrims were the main target of a series of explosions in June that killed at least 70 people.