Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update from [1] CNN:

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.

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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.

It is not clear whether the gunmen were aware these were foreign pilgrims, and thus looking to create an international incident, when they initiated the attack. But given the occasion for which Shi'ites are gathering in Karbala, there will undoubtedly be more attempts at such attacks in the coming days.

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.