The 24 January 2011 Iraq bombings were a series of four explosions, two in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

and two in Karbala, which killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 78 more. Two blasts, caused by roadside bombs, occurred in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the first of which killed two people including an Iraqi brigadier general. The second explosion caused at least eight injuries. In Karbala, where

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

pilgrims were marking

Arba'een , duration = 1 day , frequency = once every Islamic year , observedby = Shia , date = 20 Safar , date2018 = 30 October , date2019 = 19 October , date2020 = 8 October , date2021 = 28 September , date ...

, two car bombs detonated a few hours apart. The first bomb targeted a bus terminal to the east of Karbala and killed seven people, injuring more than double that, while the second hit south of the city and claimed 18 lives. The attacks came the week after the

January 2011 Iraq suicide attacks The January 2011 Iraq suicide attacks were a series of five consecutive suicide bombings in Iraq. 18 January attack On 18 January 2011, a bomber killed 63 people and injured around 150 in the city of Tikrit. The bombing occurred near a police f ...

, which killed at least 133 people including 56 in Karbala. The attacks were located near the blasts that occurred on 20 January, and have been blamed on the delay in naming Iraq's new defence and interior ministers. Several theories arose as a result of the attacks, including that the attacks could be the work of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

's former Ba'ath Party members, or that they were an attempt to reduce confidence in the security arrangements for an Arab League summit in March.

References

2011 murders in Iraq 21st-century mass murder in Iraq Car and truck bombings in Iraq Islamic terrorist incidents in 2012 January 2011 events in Iraq Mass murder in 2011 Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2011 Terrorist incidents in Baghdad Violence against Shia Muslims in Iraq {{massacre-stub

See also

References