Six detained over Karbala bombing

Authorities have arrested six suspects, including a citizen of a former Soviet republic, on suspicion of involvement in the weekend’s deadly explosion in the holy Shiite city of Karbala which killed 13 people, a police official said today.

The unidentified foreigner allegedly admitted he had been trained by Osama bin Laden’s terror network, al-Qaida, in a European country, said police spokesman Rahman Meshawy.

Five Iraqis, believed to be linked to terror organisations, were rounded up yesterday in a separate raid, he added. The men allegedly confessed that several Arab nationals, including two from Persian Gulf countries, were involved with them in terrorist activities.

The deadly car bomb attack on Sunday at a bus station in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, killed 13 and injured 33. Another car bomb on the same day in Najaf, south of Karbala, killed 54 people.

Meshawy said police had imposed tight security around the city and were searching for other suspects.