A bus carrying pilgrims from Iran has been hit by a bomb explosion in Touirij town near Karbala in central Iraq, killing at least 10 people and injuring another 38.
According to officials, the explosion occurred at a parking lot in the northern part of the city on Monday.
It is an important place of pilgrimage, especially for Shia Muslims. Some 1,500 pilgrims from neighbouring Iran visit Shia shrines in Iraq a day, mainly in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Mohammed al-Moussawi, head of the Kerbala provincial council said that, “It was a car bomb. There were Iranian pilgrims in the area. They were targeted.”
Political tensions in Iraq have been stoked by the failure of its leaders to agree on a new government eight months after an inconclusive election.
Nuri al-Maliki, the incumbent Prime Minister, a Shia, is close to securing a second term but is still trying to win over leaders of a Sunni-backed cross-sectarian alliance.
The attack comes ahead of the Islamic month of Muharram, in which Shia Muslims mourn the historic incident of Karbala.
Source:Aljazeera