More than 44 people were killed and at least 170 wounded in suicide attacks across Iraq. The attacks’ targets were a Shiite Muslim religious festival in Baghdad and a rally in Kirkuk, a city in Iraqi Kurdistan.

It seems that at least two of the attackers were women, reports the Associated Press.  According to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the female suicide bombers attacked Shiite pilgrims, killing at least 24 persons and injuring 70 others.

The pilgrims were heading for a place of worship in Baghdad, at the shrine of Musa al-Kadhim, for a once-a-year ceremony to commemorate the death of Shiite Imam, an eighth century saint.

"These blasts that happened today will increase our determination to finalize the ceremony of this visit and defeat terrorism," asserted pilgrim Taher Abd-Noor.

A US military official blamed the terrorist organization Al-Qaida for the attacks in Baghdad.

According to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, in a different attack, 20 people were killed and 100 were injured by a bomb at a Kurdish rally in the northern Kirkuk.

Following the attack, three suspects were taken into custody. A mass of people had gathered in the northern oil hub to complain about a recent provincial election law that was rejected by the Presidency Council last week. The Kurdish coalition, which boycotted a vote on the edict, requires a referendum, as the Iraqi central government had vowed.