ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) —  Bomb blasts that killed 17 people and injured 150 others in a crowded neighborhood square appeared to be linked to a Kurdish rebel group, Istanbul’s governor said today, though the rebels immediately denied  it.

Gov. Muammer Guler said police were still investigating the Sunday night explosions, the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in five years.

A pro-Kurdish news agency, Firat, reported that a Kurdish rebel leader said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, did not carry out the bombing.

Bombers kill Shiite pilgrims in attack

BAGHDAD (AP) — Three suicide bombers and a roadside bomb struck Shiite pilgrims taking part in a massive religious procession in Baghdad today, killing at least 28 people and wounding 92, police said.

The attacks occurred in quick succession as tens of thousands of Shiite worshippers streamed toward a shrine in northern Baghdad for an annual event marking the death of an eighth-century saint. The event climaxes on Tuesday.

Police said there were indications that the suicide bombers were women. At least two children were among the dead, said police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The attacks took place in the mainly Shiite Karradah district, which is several miles away from the site of the pilgrimage in Kazimiyah, northern Baghdad. The majority of the dead were women and children, police and health officials said.

Mustapha Abdullah, a 32-year-old man who was injured in the stomach and legs, said the blasts took place when pilgrims from Baghdad’s predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zaafaraniyah reached the district’s Kahramanah Square.