A suicide car bomb devastated a Shi'ite mosque in northern Iraq, one of a series of attacks yesterday that killed at least 37 Shi'ite pilgrims and worshippers, police and medical officials said.

The incidents are the latest in a series that have targeted Shi'ites, raising concerns that insurgents are stepping up attacks in hopes of re-igniting sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007.

The deadliest blast occurred in Rasheediyah, north of Mosul, when a suicide car bomb struck a mosque, killing at least 30 people and trapping dozens more underneath the rubble, said a police official in Ninevah province's operations command.

The official said at least 88 people were injured. Bodies were still being pulled from the rubble, the official said.

In Baghdad, roadside bombs targeted pilgrims returning from the southern holy city of Karbala, where hundreds of thousands of devout Shi'ites gathered to celebrate the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shi'ite imam.

The first of three bombs exploded at about 9.10am, targeting a minibus with pilgrims as it entered the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City, a police official said. The blast killed four pilgrims and wounded eight.

A short time later, two nearly simultaneous explosions near the Shaab football stadium in eastern Baghdad killed three pilgrims.-AP