25 people killed in Iraq's Karbala car bombing

BAGHDAD, Jan. 24, 2011 (Xinhua) --

About 25 people were killed and some 40 others wounded in a car bomb attack targeted crowds of Shi'i pilgrims in the city of Karbala on Monday, the police said.

The attack took place around midday when a booby-trapped car detonated near processions of Shi'i pilgrims at al-Da'oum area, just east of Karbala, some 110 km southwest of Baghdad, a source from the city police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Many Iraqi security forces were among the killed and wounded, as the blast occurred when security forces approached to check the car bomb, the source said.

Earlier in the day, the source said that a twin car bombs detonated Monday morning at a parking lot in the al-Ibrahimiyah area in east Karbala, killing six people and wounding up to 30 others, the source said.

The latest attacks targeted Shiite pilgrims who converge in tens of thousands from outside Iraq and from different Iraqi provinces on the holy shrine of Imam Al-Hussain in Karbala to commemorate the death of the Imam who was killed in the battle of Karbala in 680 A.D.

Violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks continue in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease of violence over the last three years.

Karbala blasts casualties rise to 162

1/24/2011 3:52 PM KARBALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

The final toll of the explosions that rattled Karbala today rose to 12 dead and 150 wounded, deputy chairman of the Karbala council said on Monday. "Three car bombs exploded; two in al-Ibrahimiya region and one in al-Daaom, killing 12 and injuring 150," Nassief Jassem al-Khatabi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Swarms of Shiite Muslims visit the mausoleum of Imam al-Hussein Ibn Ali in Karbala, 110 km southwest of Baghdad, to revive the arbaeen, or the anniversary of the 40th day after the death of al-Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad and a highly revered figure for Shiite Muslims.

 Imam al-Hussain and his household were slain in the battle of Taf in the hegira calendar year of 61 (681 AD) by an army of Umayyads upon orders from Yazid Ibn Muaawiya Ibn Abi Sufyan, the second Umayyad caliph.

Shi'is commemorate the event of arbaeen by undertaking the pilgrimage to Karbala, the site of Imam Hussein’s death, and observe Shiite rites of self-mortification, chanting and drumbeating in procession Karbala, the center of Karbala Province, is 108 km to the south of Baghdad. SH (TP)