HOLY KADHIMIYAH, Iraq: Maraje and Ayaat have strongly condemned terrorism on Wednesday near the seventh infallible descendant of Prophet Muhammad (S), Al-Imam Al-Mousa b. Jafar Al-Kadhim (AS) shrine in Kadhimiyah.

At least seven people including women and children were martyred and more than two-dozen were injured when the bomb tucked inside a plastic bag detonated yards from the holy shrine.

The assault occurred around noon in the capital's Kadhimiyah neighborhood, as worshipers made their way to the holy shrine.

"People used carts to remove the wounded," said Um Ridha, 30, a teacher.

The attack occurred a day after a car bomb detonated in the same neighborhood, martyring nine people, including a woman whose son was rescued from a burning taxi by a man, who later handed the infant to his uncle, police said.