Iraq on 'high alert' for ISIS attacks on pilgrims

Iraq stepped up security amid fears of the Islamic State group launching major attacks as thousands of Shias flocked yesterday to the shrine city of Karbala for an annual pilgrimage.The pilgrims are prime targets for the ISIS jihadists, who have carried out a series of mass executions in recent days, killing scores of members of a tribe in Iraq's western Anbar province.Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Iraq and abroad are heading to Karbala for today peak of Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam.At least 19 people were killed in bomb blasts targeting Shias in Baghdad on Sunday and Iraqi security forces were on alert for further attacks.

Authorities have deployed thousands of security personnel and allied militiamen to protect the pilgrims, in what will be a major test for the new government headed by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.Islamic State group jihadists beheaded eight Syrian rebels who had surrendered in a town on the border with Iraq last week despite pledges of an amnesty, a monitor said yesterday.Meanwhile, Canada conducted airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Iraq for the first time on Sunday, while reports emerged that the jihadist group had executed more than 200 tribespeople in recent days.

"Today's strike demonstrates our government's firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism and to stand with our allies against ISIL's atrocities against innocent women, children and men," Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said in a statement.Canada joined the anti-ISIS coalition on Thursday and conducted two days of reconnaissance before sending two CF-18s to attack jihadist positions around the city of Fallujah.The attacks followed reports that ISIS had slaughtered scores of people from the Albu Nimr tribe, which had taken up arms against the insurgents.Singapore said yesterday it would provide military support to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group but would not take part in combat operations, reports AFP.Al-Qaeda fighters are massing at a Syrian town on the Turkish border in what appears to be an attempt to seize a vital crossing from rebels, activists said yesterday.