KARBALA: At least 50 people died in a spate of explosions across Iraq Thursday, including 45 in twin suicide car bombs that rocked the city of Karbala, the third major attack in as many days. The attacks mostly targeted pilgrims marking the mourning day of Arbaeen, and were the latest in a series of bombings that have shattered a relative calm in Iraq following the formation of a new government last month. In Karbala, two suicide bombers detonated vehicles packed with explosives 20 minutes apart, the head of Karbala provincial council Mohammed Hamid Al-Mussawi said. The first attack struck at Karbala's northern outskirts at around 3 P.M. (1200 GMT), Mussawi said, with the second explosion occurring at around 3:20 P.M. some 15 kilometers south of the city. “At least 45 people, including women and children, have been killed and 150 have been wounded,” he said. Earlier Thursday, a roadside bomb detonated at the Al-Rasheed vegetable market in southern Baghdad, killing one and wounding nine, while another such blast in a central Iraqi town killed one and injured three, anInterior Ministry official said. Also Thursday, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-filled car at a police headquarters in the central city of Baquba, killing two policemen and a female journalist in the third attack on Iraqi security forces in three days. The attack left three dead – two guards for the headquarters and a journalist – and 30 wounded, according to Ahmed Alwan, a doctor at Baquba hospital. – Agence France
