35 killed or wounded in IED blast in Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: Five Shiite pilgrims were killed and 30 others wounded on Thursday when an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the holy city of Karbala, according the province’s chief of operations. “A home-made explosive charge went off in an alley near Qiblat al-Imam al-Hussein street, killing five pilgrims and wounding 30 others,” Lt. General Othman al-Ghanimi told IraqiNews.com news agency. Earlier on Thursday (Feb. 12), a source from the province’s local council said that five persons were killed and 36 others wounded when a cooking gas cylinder exploded among a crowd of pilgrims attending a Shiite occasion in Karbala. “The incident took place around 50 meters from the Shrine of Imam Hussein,”the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. An official local source had said nearly 125,000 Arab and foreign pilgrims have arrived in Karbala for the Arbaeen pilgrimage, scheduled for Monday. 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 be housing the tombs of Imam al-Hussein and his brother Imam al-Abbas, lies 130 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S) 1