Karbala blasts casualties rise to 175

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: The final toll of the explosions that rattled Karbala today went up to 12 dead and 163 wounded, including women, children and security elements, a medical source said. “Three car bombs exploded; two in al-Ibrahimiya region and one in al-Daaom, killing 12 and injuring 163,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The wounded were sent to the hospitals in nearby provinces, in addition to the province’s five hospitals,” he added. “A number of women, children and security elements are among the casualties,” he said. 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-Hussein 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. Shiites 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 (TS) 1335