Blasts kill 16 in Iraqi holy city
- 13 years ago
The aftermath of a series of bomb blasts in the Iraqi city of Kerbala.
Four successive bombs killed at least 16 people, and wounded dozens more as they lined up outside a local government building.
The first bomb ripped through a crowd of guards and civilians in front of an office issuing national ID cards and passports.
The three other explosions went off as emergency services arrived at the scene.
One local resident describes what happened.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AKRAM HAMEED, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING:
"I woke up and heard an explosion so I went out to see. The first explosion was there in front of an office issuing national identity cards where there was a large crowd of people. We don't know how the car managed to drive up here. There are a lot of checkpoints and bomb detectors, so I don't know how it managed to enter. Three blasts happened in one hour."
Kerbala, a major Shi'ite holy city 50 miles southwest of Baghdad, has been attacked many times in the past by Sunni Islamist insurgents targeting Shi'ite pilgrims.
Travis Brecher, Reuters
Four successive bombs killed at least 16 people, and wounded dozens more as they lined up outside a local government building.
The first bomb ripped through a crowd of guards and civilians in front of an office issuing national ID cards and passports.
The three other explosions went off as emergency services arrived at the scene.
One local resident describes what happened.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AKRAM HAMEED, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING:
"I woke up and heard an explosion so I went out to see. The first explosion was there in front of an office issuing national identity cards where there was a large crowd of people. We don't know how the car managed to drive up here. There are a lot of checkpoints and bomb detectors, so I don't know how it managed to enter. Three blasts happened in one hour."
Kerbala, a major Shi'ite holy city 50 miles southwest of Baghdad, has been attacked many times in the past by Sunni Islamist insurgents targeting Shi'ite pilgrims.
Travis Brecher, Reuters