42 killed, 100 injured in attacks in Karbala (Second lead, changing dateline)

KARBALA - At least 42 people were killed and 100 injured Friday in two attacks targeting Shias in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, in the third such deadly incident in five days.

In the Qantara al-Salam neighbourhood of eastern Karbala, some 26 people were killed and 70 injured in a car bomb blast.

Sources added that three rocket shells struck pilgrims in the Bab Touireg area of central Karbala, killing 16 and injuring 30.

Pilgrims are visiting the shrine of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, to celebrate the 40th day after Ashura, the holy day that marks Hussein’s death in the Battle of Karbala in the year 680.

Friday’s attacks came on the last and most important day of the festival and were the third major strike this week against Shia pilgrims.

On Wednesday, 25 people were killed and 115 injured when a man detonated explosives strapped to his body amid a crowd of pilgrims. On Monday, 38 pilgrims were killed and 89 injured in Baghdad as pilgrims departed on foot for Karbala.

More than 30,000 military and police officers have been deployed on the roads leading to Karbala to try to beef up security.

Security authorities cooperated with US army air support to protect visitors in the holy Shia city, which lies some 110 km southwest of Baghdad.

Official statistics indicated that more than eight million visitors have arrived in the city to attend the annual ritual, according to security.