Third terrorist attack targets civilians in Karbala

By Mohammed al-Qaisi in Baghdad
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-02-05

[Mohammed Sawaf/AFP/Getty Images] Terrorists attack Arbaeen mourners in Karbala, killing and injuring women and children.

In the third attack against unarmed civilians within one week, at least 33 Iraqis were killed and 90 injured when twin car bombs exploded, targeting civilians marking the rites of Arbaeen in Karbala on Friday (February 5th).

Lt. Col. Abdul Wahid Ali, spokesperson for the anti-terrorism unit in Karbala, said the death toll will likely rise given the severity of the wounds.

Ali told Al-Shorfa that a car containing explosives was parked near a crowd of citizens in the area of Qantarat al-Salam at Bab Touirij, 3 kilometers east of Karbala. "The bombing rocked the area and led to the fall of many victims," he said.

According to Ali, just four minutes later, another car bomb exploded near the crowd of medics who gathered after the first bombing, killing even more people.

"Most of the victims are children and women, and there were no security elements from either the army or police among the victims," Ali said.

Maj. Abdullah Khamees of Karbala Emergency Police described the bombing "as carrying the fingerprints of al-Qaeda."

In an interview with Al-Shorfa, Khamees added, "These vehicles entered the city under the cover of elements disguised within the visitors, pretending to serve food and transport the citizens for free."

Khamees said the victims were transferred to city hospitals, the area was sealed off by the police and army forces, and a curfew was imposed on vehicles and individuals.

"The terrorists insist on leaving their criminal fingerprints on every event that brings Iraqis together and unifies their ranks," Khamees said.

Dr. Mohammed al-Khazali of Karbala public hospital said "60% of the victims are children and women, and some of them are in a critical condition. There are a number of babies and another large number of pregnant women among the injured people."

Maj. Alaa al-Ghanemi, spokesperson for Karbala police, said, "The attack comes as part of the series of attacks by al-Qaeda against Shia and Sunni civilians alike."

He said the terrorist took advantage of the large numbers of visitors, totaling more than 10 million, and the fact that many of them defied safety instructions by walking through narrow side roads.

The city's hospitals and subsidiary medical centers were inundated with the injured and the bodies of the dead, just days after previous terrorist bombings in the area left hospitals filled with a similar number of wounded.

Medical authorities in Karbala declared a state of maximum alert among its ranks, and loudspeakers called for blood donations.

"We were moving to get out to the main street," said Malik Saadoun, 52, resident of Karbala. "We turned around only to find a fireball going up in the sky together with the body parts of our companions. We miraculously survived, and we heard the sound of shrapnel as it passed in front of our eyes."

"The blast was like a gust that lifts everything with it," Saadoun added. "I saw a small child flying in the air for several meters because of the impact of the blast before he fell down, torn apart to small pieces."

"Only beasts can kill children like this," he said.

"I used to hear the news on television and I did not believe it," said Fatima Ali, 35, a Bahraini woman who came to Karbala to take part in the Arbaeen rites.

"However, after I saw their terrorist acts with my own eyes, the world in general, and the Gulf countries in particular, must help the Iraqis so that they may put the terrorists in a hole and then bury them," she said. "I will convey the picture of al-Qaeda's terrorism, as well as Iraqis' sufferings because of their acts, to the people of my country."

Another eyewitness, Emad Abdul Kanani, said he has no doubt who is responsible for the attacks.

"These operations are carried out by al-Qaeda, and we do not need anyone to tell us that. They want to drag us to a sectarian war," he said. "However, this will not happen because we are smarter than this. The war will be against them, and today all Iraqis are soldiers waiting for them."

He added, "There are 30 million Iraqis who hate their presence and reject their beliefs and terrorism."

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