Karbala: The first car bombing in Iraq’s holy Shiite city of Karbala in more than two years killed at least three people Tuesday, officials said of an attack claimed by militants.
The blast in a neighborhood of Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, also wounded 33 people wounded, an official at the governorate’s health directorate said. The explosion was claimed by ISIS, which has carried out most such attacks in Iraq recently.
“A car bomb was detonated at an intersection in Al-Mowadhafeen neighborhood, around three kilometers from the city center,” the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
In a statement posted on social media, ISIS said it was a suicide attack carried out by a man it named as Abu Malik al-Iraqi.
Bombings in Karbala are rare but the city, which is home to the mausoleums of revered Shiite imams Hussein and Abbas, borders Anbar province where Iraqi forces are currently battling ISIS.
AFP