Iraq atrocity: Separate bomb attacks kill 45 in Karbala

150 injured, hundreds of thousands pour into Karbala for Chehlum.

BAGHDAD: Two separate car bombs killed up to 45 pilgrims on Thursday near Karbala ahead of Imam Hussain’s Chehlum next week, a provincial official said.

About 150 people were wounded in the two explosions, which occurred on the outskirts of the city, 80 kilometres south of Baghdad, on different roads, said Mohammed al-Moussawi, head of the Karbala provincial council.

“Two cars parked outside the checkpoints to the city exploded at the same time,” Moussawi said. Police and interior ministry sources in Baghdad said they had heard suicide bombers wearing explosive vests were involved.

The blasts occurred amid a surge in suicide bombings in mainly Sunni areas north of the capital in recent days, seen as testing Iraqi security forces ahead of the full withdrawal this year of US forces.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are pouring into Karbala for Arbain, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain. The pilgrims are often targeted by insurgents like al Qaeda.

About 120,000 Iraqi police and troops have been mobilized to protect the pilgrims, many of whom walk for days to Karbala, where Imam Hussain is said to be buried.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st,  2011.