Suicide car and truck bombers targeted Shiite Muslim pilgrims heading Thursday to the Iraqi holy city of Karbala, killing at least 63 people and wounding more than 200, hospital officials said. It was the deadliest attack in Iraq in several months, raising the death toll in three consecutive days of major bombings to more than 140.

The pilgrims were on their way to celebrate a holiday honoring Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam. Just before 3 p.m., a flatbed truck packed with blankets and sheets arrived at a checkpoint at Karbala's northern edge and exploded as thousands poured into the city for the holiday. The blast scattered the bodies of pilgrims and Iraqi soldiers and police.

Within 15 minutes, a car rolled up to another checkpoint leading into Karbala, and explosives were detonated amid pilgrims, police and soldiers.

Baqir Bedhani, 45, of Baghdad said he and others were walking toward the city when they heard a giant boom and saw flames shoot in the air. "Oh God, it was unbearable," he said. "I would like to tell those terrorists something: The more you kill us, the more we will do our holy rituals."

In other attacks, terrorists struck Shiite pilgrims and a police headquarters in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, killing at least five.

PARLIAMENT PLANS TO DEFY KARZAI ORDER

The new Afghan parliament decided to convene as planned at the start of next week, defying President Hamid Karzai, who on Wednesday ordered the opening session postponed by a month.

Karzai called for the delay so that a special court he established could finish looking into alleged fraud in the September parliamentary elections.

On Thursday, 213 of the 249 elected parliament members met at a hotel in Kabul, where they expressed the desire to go forward on Sunday. They said that individual investigations should not interrupt the work of the entire legislative branch.

"This is a democratic process," said Mirwais Yasini, a member of parliament from Nangarhar Province who is running for speaker. "We don't want to leave it sabotaged." NEWS SERVICES