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Kerbala car bomb kills 12, many wounded
A car bomb exploded in the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala Sunday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 30, and insurgents also struck in Baghdad, shooting dead three Election Commission employees. Shortly afterwards, a separate explosion struck a market in Najaf -- another Shi'ite religious city south of Kerbala. The blast took place near the city's Imam Ali mosque, but there were no immediate reports of any dead or wounded.
A cameraman for Reuters who filmed the immediate aftermath of the Kerbala attack said the ground around the city's open air bus station was littered with dead and wounded.
The main hospital said 12 people were killed and at least 34 wounded, but an official emphasized that it was a provisional toll and the numbers could rise. He said all appeared to be civilians and there were many women and children among them.
It was the second attack in five days in Kerbala, home to two important Shi'ite shrines, putting the city at the center of concerns that Sunni militants will exploit sectarian divisions to cause mayhem in the run up to Iraq's Jan. 30 election.
Wednesday, a bomb apparently targeting Shi'ite cleric Abdul Mehdi al-Kerbalai, exploded as he was returning to his office after evening prayers at the Imam Hussein shrine. Sunday's bomb was just a few hundred meters (yards) away.
Ten people, including four of Kerbalai's bodyguards, were killed and more than 30 wounded in Wednesday's attack, including the cleric, who is regarded as close to Iraq's supreme Shi'ite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
It was the first major assault in the city since March, when coordinated suicide bombings during an annual religious festival killed more than 90 people, an act blamed on Sunni militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who allies himself with al Qaeda.
ELECTION TARGET
In Baghdad, insurgents dragged three employees of Iraq's Electoral Commission from a car and shot them dead, the latest in a series of attacks designed to disrupt plans for the poll.
A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said three junior employees had been killed in the assault but said it was unclear if they were targeted because they worked with the commission, which is charged with conducting next month's vote.
"We don't know if they were targeted specifically," spokesman and Commission board member Farid Ayar said.
Witnesses said insurgents opened fire on the vehicle before dragging three people from it and shooting them. The car was set on fire and the bodies left lying near the burning wreckage.
Guerrillas armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols then set up a roadblock on the street, stopping and searching every car that passed, pointing their guns in through the windows.
Fierce gunbattles ensued, witnesses said, as police tried for several hours to get to the scene of the attack. U.S. military helicopters flew low overhead scanning the area, which echoed with gunfire and small explosions, residents said.
Haifa Street, on the west bank of the Tigris river, is home to about a dozen apartment complexes built by Saddam Hussein for those he favored. Former regime loyalists are believed to have built a stronghold in the area over the past 18 months.
THREAT TO HOSTAGES
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned that attacks will be stepped up in the run up to the election, Iraq's first fully democratic poll in nearly half a century. The increasing concern is that attempts will be made to create sectarian strife. The bombs in Kerbala and Najaf are seen as part of that strategy, but Shi'ite politicians said they would not be provoked. Electoral officials say 14 of Iraq's 18 governorates are safe enough to hold free and fair polls, but persistent violence in the remaining areas -- mostly populated by Sunni Arabs -- has led Sunni organizations to call for an election delay. They fear that Sunnis, favored during Saddam's rule, will not be fully represented in the poll, which is widely expected to see parties from Iraq's 60 percent Shi'ite majority, oppressed for decades by the former regime, brought to power. Militants kidnapped and are threatening to kill 10 Iraqis employed by a U.S. security company unless the firm pulls out of Iraq, a caller from the militants told Reuters. A tape broadcast by Arab satellite channels Sunday showed the hostages. It was not clear when the men were kidnapped. No deadline appears to have been set for the threats to be carried out. |
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