TIMELINE: Iranians target for armed operations in Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The latest attack on Iranians visiting holy shrines had involved two separate car bombing attacks in the holy Shiite cities of Karbala and Najaf on Monday, leaving dozens killed or wounded. Fayez Shaaban, the director of Najaf governor’s Office, in statements to IraqiNews.com news agency, has put the final tally of casualties from the car bomb blast in a Najaf street, some 800 meters south of the Shrine of Imam Ali were eight death – six Iraqis and two Iranians – while the wounded were 31, most of them Iranian pilgrims. In Karbala, a source in al-Hussein Teaching Hospital told IraqiNews.com that eight people were killed and 42 others wounded in an explosive vehicle blast off al-Tuwayrij Gate. Following is a timeline on the armed attacks targeting Iranians in Iraq during the years 2009 and 2010: – Tuesday, 19/10/2010 – 13 Iranian visitors were wounded in two separate explosions in central Baghdad, when a bus carrying them passed through Saadoun Street. – Monday, 16/8/2010 – Four Iranians and a policemen were killed and 9 others injured in a car bomb blast targeting Iranian pilgrims in Diala province’s al-Askari district in Muqdadiya town, 45 km east of Baaquba, the capital. – Thurday, 24/6/2010 – Two Iranians were killed in an explosive charge blast near a bus that carried them in Imam Weis area of Khanaqin town, 155 km east of Baaquba. – Monday, 10/5/2010 – Two Iranians were injured in an explosion east of Balad town in Salah al-Din province, close to the Shrine of Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi, 175 km north of Baghdad. – Friday, 24/4/2009 – Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts blew themselves up close to the Shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in Baghdad, killing about 60 persons and wounding more than 100 others, among them a number of Iranians. – Thursday, 23/4/2009 – A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up among Iranian pilgrims who were on their way to the holy shrines in Karbala and Najaf, close to a restaurant in Imam Weis area of  Khanaqin town, killing 32 persons and wounding 63 others SKH (S)/AmR 113