(CBS/AP) Two suicide bombers turned a procession of Shiite pilgrims into a blood-drenched stampede Tuesday, killing scores with a first blast and then claiming more lives among fleeing crowds. At least 106 were killed amid a wave of deadly strikes against Shiites heading for a solemn religious ritual.

The pilgrimage is one of the most important events on the Shiite calendar, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey. But conspicuous by its absence was security.

After a temporary fall in body counts and bombings brought a statement from the government that the new security operation was "a shining success," the past two days are a horrific reminder that full-scale sectarian war is as close as security is a distant hope.

U.S. forces, too, continue to tally losses at the hands of extremists despite signs of more successful raids against bases and weapon stockpiles.

The military said nine soldiers were killed Monday in two separate roadside bombings north of Baghdad, making it the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq in nearly a month.

In Baghdad, U.S. forces continued their push 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.

As the mission, called Operation Imposing Law, has progressed, Iraqi troops have outnumbered Americans 2-to-1, the exact opposite of previous missions, adds Pizzey from Baghdad.

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.

"A brutal massacre against people who are only practicing their faith" was how Shiite lawmaker Sami al-Askari described the Hillah attacks, which injured at least 157 people.

Dr. Mohammed al-Temimi, at Hillah's main hospital, said some of injuries were critical and the death toll could rise.

The Hillah strike came after gunmen and bombers hit group after group of Shiite pilgrims elsewhere — some in buses and other making the traditional trek on foot to the shrine city of Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad. At least 24 were killed in those attacks, including four relatives of a prominent Shiite lawmaker, Mohammed Mahdi al-Bayati.

This weekend, huge crowds of Shiite worshippers will gather for rites marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died near Karbala in a famed seventh-century battle.

In Hillah, southeast of Karbala, a long line of pilgrims marched toward a bridge checkpoint on the edge of the city. Food and cool drinks were distributed at nearby tents.

The first suicide bomber killed dozens and touched off a mad dash of people away from the bridge, said witness Salim Mohammed Ali Abbas. As the fleeing crowd grew thicker, another suicide bomber among them blew himself apart.

A police commander, Brig. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, said the attackers joined the procession outside Hillah and waiting until it reached the checkpoint bottleneck to try to maximize the damage.

"In an instant, bodies were set ablaze, people were running and the ground was mixed with teapots, kettles and other supplies for pilgrims," said Mahdi Kadim, one of the survivors.

In other developments:

President Bush named former Sen. Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala on Tuesday to lead an investigation of problems at U.S. military and veterans' hospitals. The review came in the wake of disclosures of shoddy outpatient health care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, one of the premier U.S. facilities for treating veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Bush said Tuesday that U.S. and Iraqi forces are making important progress in a security crackdown in Baghdad but warned that America's enemies will retaliate with deadly attacks.

More than 1,000 journalists and their support staff have died in the past decade, with Iraq and Russia topping the list as the deadliest countries for the profession, according to a report released Tuesday. Most of those killed were men who died in their home countries. Nearly half were shot. Others were blown up, beaten to death, stabbed, tortured or decapitated.

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© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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