Suicide attack in Iraq’s Karbala leaves 15 dead

By Arif Yusuf

BAGHDAD

At least 15 people were killed late Sunday night in a suicide-bomb attack in the Ain al-Tamer area west of Iraq’s Shia-majority city of Karbala, the Iraqi army said Monday.

Iskandar Watut, a member of parliament’s security committee, told Anadolu Agency that all those killed and injured in the attack were civilians.

In a statement, the army’s central Euphrates command said the attacks in Ain al-Tamer (located some 120 kilometers west of Karbala) had left 15 dead and 16 injured.

According to the army statement, five suicide bombers wearing explosive belts attacked a wedding ceremony with hand grenades and machine-guns.

After one of the attackers detonated his belt, "the security forces killed the four other bombers", read the army statement.

The army, in coordination with local authorities, has since ratcheted up security in the area.

"The situation is now completely under control," according to the army statement.

While no group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, the Daesh terrorist group has carried out similar attacks in the past.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh captured the northern city of Mosul along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

In recent months, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led airstrikes and its allies on the ground -- has since managed to retake much of the territory lost earlier to Daesh.

Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in firm control of several parts of the country, including Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.