Two suicide bombers blew themselves up Tuesday in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims streaming toward a shrine south of Baghdad, killing more than 112 people, police said.

The coordinated attack happened on a main street in Hillah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, said Capt. Muthana Khalid. More than 150 others were wounded in the blasts, he said.

A cameraman at the scene said the bombers struck a crowd of pilgrims filing into a pedestrian area. Ambulances and Iraqi police were swarming the area and there was no immediate sign of U.S. forces.

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It was one of several shootings and bombings across central Iraq Tuesday targeting the Shiite faithful on their way to a shrine in Karbala ahead of a weekend holiday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the attack on Tuesday in a statement issued by his office.

And at a meeting with Baghdad's mayor, al-Maliki called the bombing a new message to the world that the terrorists oppose humanity and knowledge.

This crime should push the Iraqi people to stand together to defend their history, civilization, humanity and culture, al-Maliki said.

The bombing was seen as an effort by Sunni insurgents to bring major bloodshed back into the capital and into the lap of its Shiite-dominated government. The provocation could also erase Washington's plans for stability during a surge of more than 20,000 additional troops into Baghdad.

In addition to the suicide attacks in Hillah, eight Shiite pilgrims died in the south Baghdad neighborhood of Dora when gunmen pumped bullets into a minibus they were riding in, police said. A car bomb nearby killed two others hours later, they said.

Five pilgrims were killed and more than a dozen wounded in two car bomb attacks in Baghdad's Yarmouk section, police said.

Mohammed Mahdi al-Bayati, a Shiite member of parliament, said four of his relatives were killed when his convoy was attacked about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, en route to Karbala.

Two shootings in Latifiyah, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, left three people dead, police said. Roadside bombs killed one person each in northern Baghdad and in Youssifiyah, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the capital, police said.

In past years, Shiite militiamen played a role in protecting the pilgrims and the attacks were fewer and less effective, but this year things are different, said Bahaa al-Araji, another Shiite parliament member.

The government bears some responsibility for this because it has not provided enough security forces to protect the pilgrims, al-Araji said. This indicates some shortcomings in the Baghdad security plan.

Meanwhile, Iraqi army units were preparing to deploy along major routes to ensure pilgrims' safety, according to a Defense Ministry statement issued Tuesday.

The Defense Ministry hopes that the citizens will continue the rituals of the pilgrimage safely under efficient security protection, the statement said.

Tuesday's attacks came a day after nine U.S. soldiers died in the deadliest day for Americans in Iraq in nearly a month.

Six soldiers died when a bomb exploded Monday near their vehicles during a combat operation in Salahuddin province, the military said. Three others were wounded in the blast. Another three soldiers died the same day in a roadside bomb attack in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

Both provinces are Sunni-dominated and have seen a rise in violence since additional U.S. forces surged into Baghdad as part of a security crackdown three weeks ago.

The nine U.S. deaths Monday brought to 20 the number of Americans killed in Iraq this month. At least 3,184 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,561 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

U.S. forces continued their push Tuesday into Sadr City, home to 2.5 million of the city's poorest residents as well as fighters loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Some 600 American soldiers searched the neighborhood's northwest quadrant, knocking on doors and searching homes, according to an Associated Press reporter traveling with them.

The U.S. forces are seeking a reconciliatory approach to avoid sparking a backlash on the streets, said Col. Richard Kim. One small gesture seemed to offer appreciation: a child offering soldiers ice cream bars.

Monday was a very traumatic day for U.S. troops in Iraq, said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a spokesman for U.S. forces in northern Iraq.

Our hearts and prayers are with the families right now in their time of loss, and our resolve is stronger to accomplish our mission here, Donnelly said.

It was the deadliest day for Americans in Iraq since Feb. 7, when 11 troops were killed - seven when their helicopter was shot down north of Fallujah and four others in combat operations.

The highest daily U.S. death toll since the Iraq war began was Jan. 26, 2005 when 37 Americans died in attacks.

Violence has fallen in Baghdad, where a joint U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown was in its third week. But U.S. military officials say insurgents have fled the capital for outlying areas, like those where the soldiers were killed Monday.

Saddam Hussein's clan hails from Salahuddin, and the late al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was hiding out in Diyala when he was killed by a U.S. airstrike there last summer. Direct attacks on U.S. forces in Diyala are up 70 percent since last July, according to figures provided by the U.S. military.

In an earlier incident, a suicide car bomber shattered the capital's relative calm on Monday, striking a famous book market in the city's oldest quarter and killing at least 38 shoppers.