Gunmen kill 14 Pakistani, Indian pilgrims in Iraq

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Insurgents shot and killed at least 14 pilgrims from India and Pakistan, one of several attacks in Iraq that have killed a dozen other people during the last 24 hours.

The violence underscored the gloomy details in a report issued by the Pentagon a day earlier, noting a 15 percent jump in attacks and a 51 percent increase in Iraqi getting killed in the last quarter.

In July alone, more than 1,600 people were killed "execution-style," the report said. (Watch Pentagon's grim report -- 1:12)

Saturday's bloodshed capped a violent week in which many Iraqis were killed, including 62 in a wave of Baghdad bombings on Thursday.

Much of the violence has stemmed from Sunni-Shiite sectarian strife, which escalated after the February 22 bombing of the Shiite Askariya mosque in Samarra. (Watch how bloody this week turned out -- 5:14)

To discuss the violence and foster support for his national reconciliation plan, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the southern Shiite city of Najaf on Saturday, the prime minister's office said. Al-Maliki also met with Najaf's governor and the provisional council.

Days ago, al-Maliki told CNN he does not foresee a civil war in Iraq and said the violence in his country was abating. "In Iraq, we'll never be in civil war," he said.

The attacks against the pilgrims began when gunmen halted their bus on a highway west of the largely Sunni city of Ramadi. After forcing the pilgrims off the bus, the gunmen shot them, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

Eleven Pakistanis and three Indians -- all of them headed for the holy Shiite city of Karbala -- were killed, and their bodies were taken to a hospital in Karbala. (Watch Bush explain why Iraq is not amid a civil war -- 4:07)

Shiite pilgrims are going to Karbala next week to celebrate the birthday of Muhammed al-Mahdi, the 12th historic imam revered by Shiites. This imam "is expected to return at the end of time as the messianic imam who will restore justice and equity on earth," the Oxford Dictionary of Islam explains.

Other violence ripped through the capital and the two border provinces of Diyala and Babil Saturday.

Two near-simultaneous explosions in northeastern Baghdad killed two people and wounded 19, an emergency police official said.

After the first bomb exploded in the residential neighborhood of Waziriyah, Iraqi police officers and pedestrians rushed to the scene to help the wounded.

Minutes later, a second bomb detonated in the same area, wounding a number of people -- including two police officers, the official said.

In the Diyala province city of Baquba, gunmen killed three traffic police officers near a bus station, police told CNN. In a separate incident, gunmen opened fire on a car, wounding people, police said.

North of Baquba in Muqdadiya, gunmen killed two men in the center of the city.

In Babil province, south of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a police station in Mahawil, killing three people and wounding 14 others, including three police officers, police in Hilla said.

A roadside bomb killed a police officer and wounded three others in the Babil town of Musayyib Friday night, police said.

Another person was killed and five others wounded, when gunmen opened fire on a house in Iskandariya, also in Babil province, Friday night, police said.

Baker, Iraqi deputy PM meet

James Baker, the former U.S. secretary of state who is heading a group looking into U.S. policy in Iraq, met with Iraq's deputy prime minister Friday in Baghdad.

Baker sat down with Salam al-Zubaie to discuss protection of Iraq's borders, national reconciliation, peace chances and international donations, Iraqi authorities said.

Baker, a Republican, co-chairs the bipartisan Iraq Study Group with Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman. They are carrying out an independent analysis of the situation in Iraq.

Several members of Congress urged that such a report be done. A final report will be issued to Congress, the White House and the public.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Nicky Robertson contributed to this report.

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