KARBALA, Iraq – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack near the Iraqi city of Karbala on Friday, the group’s Amaq news agency said.
At least 12 people were killed and several others wounded when a vehicle loaded with explosives went off near the holy city, 100 kilometers southwest of Baghdad.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Saturday said security forces detained a man suspected of leaving the bomb on the bus. He gave no further details about the suspect, as Aljazeera reported.
The bombing was one of the worst attacks targeting civilians since the armed group was declared defeated inside Iraq in 2017. The group’s sleeper cells continue to carry out sporadic attacks across the country.
Speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohamad al-Halbousi expressed his frustration with the repeated “failures of intelligence agencies” to prevent such attacks. He said the security plans should be reviewed and intelligence gathering intensified, the report said.
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