BAGHDAD: Bombings targeting Shiite pilgrims in Damascus killed around 40 Iraqis on Saturday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said.
"Preliminary statistics indicate the fall of around 40 Iraqi martyrs and 120 wounded," ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement, terming it a "criminal terrorist operation."
Jamal said that roadside bombs targeted buses carrying the pilgrims, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that there was one roadside and one suicide bombing in the Bab al-Saghir area of Damascus.
The Iraqi statement blamed the attack on "takfiri groups," referring to Sunni Muslim extremist organisations that declare those who do not follow their ideology to be "kuffar", or infidels.
These include the Islamic State jihadist group, which Iraq is battling at home, but which also holds significant ground in Syria.
The Damascus attack could provide the impetus for increased Iraqi strikes against IS in Syria, which Baghdad has already carried out near the border.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that he would "not hesitate" to strike jihadists in neighbouring countries if they posed a threat
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained most of the territory they lost.
Iraqi forces launched an operation to retake Mosul -- the last IS-held city in Iraq -- in October, recapturing its eastern side before setting their sights on its smaller but more densely populated west.
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