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Blasts kill at least 16 in Iraqi holy city
Source: Agencies |
September 26, 2011, Monday
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FOUR successive blasts hit the Iraqi city of Kerbala yesterday, killing at least 16 people and wounding dozens more as they lined up outside a local government building.
The first bomb ripped through a crowd of guards and civilians gathered in front of an office issuing identity cards and passports, and three other explosions went off shortly afterward as emergency services arrived at the site, according to police.
Security guards fired shots in the air to keep onlookers away after the explosions tore the front off buildings and set parked cars ablaze.
Mohammed Na'eim, a local resident, said "I was inside my house when I heard a big explosion. I saw many people wounded and bodies on the ground."
A Kerbala police official said 16 people were killed and 34 wounded, while a Kerbala health department official said hospitals had 10 dead and 110 injured.
Violence in Iraq has eased since the height of sectarian strife during 2006-07, but insurgents tied to al-Qaida and Shi'ite militias still carry out daily attacks as US troops prepare to withdraw at the end of this year.
Kerbala, a Shi'ite holy city 80 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, has often been attacked in the past by Sunni Islamist insurgents targeting Shi'ite pilgrims who flock to the city's religious sites.
A suicide bomber targeting pilgrims on their way to Kerbala killed four people and injured 17 on Thursday.
Insurgents this year have increasingly targeted local government buildings and the security forces in an attempt to destabilize Iraq's frag-ile government, formed from Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish political blocs.
Bombers frequently set off one blast and trigger more when security officials arrive to help casualties.
More than eight years after the US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the remaining US soldiers are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq at the end of this year when a bilateral security agreement with the OPEC oil producer ends.
US troop numbers in Iraq will have dropped to around 30,000 by the end of this month. They are mostly involved in advising and assisting Iraqi forces since ending combat missions last year.
Iraqi and US officials say local armed forces can contain the country's enduring insurgency, but many Iraqis see some remaining US military presence as a guarantee of stability as their country works to rebuild after the war.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government is in talks with US officials over whether some US troops will remain as trainers after this year, but those negotiations are still in the preliminary stages.
The first bomb ripped through a crowd of guards and civilians gathered in front of an office issuing identity cards and passports, and three other explosions went off shortly afterward as emergency services arrived at the site, according to police.
Security guards fired shots in the air to keep onlookers away after the explosions tore the front off buildings and set parked cars ablaze.
Mohammed Na'eim, a local resident, said "I was inside my house when I heard a big explosion. I saw many people wounded and bodies on the ground."
A Kerbala police official said 16 people were killed and 34 wounded, while a Kerbala health department official said hospitals had 10 dead and 110 injured.
Violence in Iraq has eased since the height of sectarian strife during 2006-07, but insurgents tied to al-Qaida and Shi'ite militias still carry out daily attacks as US troops prepare to withdraw at the end of this year.
Kerbala, a Shi'ite holy city 80 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, has often been attacked in the past by Sunni Islamist insurgents targeting Shi'ite pilgrims who flock to the city's religious sites.
A suicide bomber targeting pilgrims on their way to Kerbala killed four people and injured 17 on Thursday.
Insurgents this year have increasingly targeted local government buildings and the security forces in an attempt to destabilize Iraq's frag-ile government, formed from Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish political blocs.
Bombers frequently set off one blast and trigger more when security officials arrive to help casualties.
More than eight years after the US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the remaining US soldiers are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq at the end of this year when a bilateral security agreement with the OPEC oil producer ends.
US troop numbers in Iraq will have dropped to around 30,000 by the end of this month. They are mostly involved in advising and assisting Iraqi forces since ending combat missions last year.
Iraqi and US officials say local armed forces can contain the country's enduring insurgency, but many Iraqis see some remaining US military presence as a guarantee of stability as their country works to rebuild after the war.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government is in talks with US officials over whether some US troops will remain as trainers after this year, but those negotiations are still in the preliminary stages.
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