Attacks in Iraq kill 14, wound 26; Shiites targeted in Karbala

Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – At least 14 people were killed and 26 wounded in attacks near the Iraqi city of Karbala and in Fallujah on Monday, with ISIS claiming responsibility for the attacks.

 

In Fallujah, two car bombs rocked the city west of Baghdad, with security sources saying they targeted a police checkpoint. Eight people were killed and 20 wounded in those attacks, following which a curfew was declared in the city, according to news reports.
An earlier attack targeted A’in Tamar, a town west of Karbala.

 

“The security forces clashed with six suicide bombers wearing explosives belts after they infiltrated into the Al-Jihad neighborhood in A’in Tamar,” Saad Ma’an, spokesperson of the Iraqi interior ministry, told Al-Sharqiya TV.

 

“Five of them were killed by the security forces and a sixth detonated his explosives after he was seized in a house,” he said, adding that six people were killed in the attack and as many wounded.

 

Reuters reported that the attack happened during the outset of the Shiite Arbayeen ceremonies, which mourn the Shiite saint Hussein and that attract thousands of people each year to what is the sect’s holiest city. 

 

ISIS warned in a statement that it plans to target Shiite members of the Iraqi army and police, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the head of the Karbala provincial council, Nassif Jasim, said military reinforcements were sent to control security in Karbala and the Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary force that is allied with the Baghdad government said it had taken control of security in the holy city following an official request from provincial authorities.