Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An attack was carried out this morning in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala, in southern Iraq. The explosion occurred in the north of the city, in a crowded street, and caused many victims. Police sources speak of at least 10 dead and 38 wounded admitted to hospitals, some of them in a serious condition. Kerbala is a place of pilgrimage for Shiite worshipers in the region, not only Iraqis, and in fact, medical sources confirmed that among the victims of what was probably a car packed with explosives, there are also people of Iranian nationality.
The attack came on the same day of an expected announcement of a new national unity government in Iraq. A conference bringing together representatives of all major parties has been scheduled. They reached a tentative agreement yesterday after eight months of deadlock. The agreement provides for the confirmation of the outgoing premier, the Shiite Nouri al-Maliki and the presidency of the Iraqi Parliament to the Iraqiya Block (IB) of the rival Ayad Allawi and while the Head of State would remain in the hands of Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani. Sources close to the IB stress that it has not yet reached any consensus on individual appointments.