Interior ministry reinforces troops after Misayiab blast

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Interior Ministry has reinforced the troop presence in the cities of Karbala, Najaf, and Hilla after Friday’s suicide bombing that targeted pilgrims heading for Karbala, a ministry official said on Saturday. “Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bulani has met with the top (Shiite) clerics in Najaf and briefed them on the ministry’s efforts to maintain stability and work on protecting civilians,” Maj. General Abdelkareem Khalaf, the director of the ministry’s National Command Center, told IraqiNews.com news agency. Khalaf did not give further details on Bulani’s meeting with the clerics. A female suicide bomber blew herself up on Friday (Feb. 13) amidst a gathering of Shiite pilgrims in the district of al-Misayiab, north of Hilla, the capital city of Babel province, 110 km southwest of Baghdad, killing and wounding more than 100 Karbala-bound people for the Arbaeen pilgrimage. Earlier on Saturday, the ministry announced a financial reward for information about the bomber’s safe house. The Arbaeen marks the 40th day after the death of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). Scores of pilgrims from inside and outside Iraq have started the long trek on foot for the pilgrimage. Tight security measures have been in force and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in Iraq’s holy sites in preparation for the occasion. Karbala, said to house the tombs of Imam al-Hussein and his brother Imam al-Abbas, lies 130 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S)/SR 1