2008 Karbala bombing

2008 Karbala bombing
Location of Karbala
Location	Karbala, Iraq
Date	17 March 2008 (UTC+3)
Attack type	suicide bomb
Deaths	At least 22
Injured	58
Perpetrators	Unknown
Motive	Anti-Shi'a sentiment

The 2008 Karbala bombing occurred on 17 March 2008 in Karbala, Iraq.

The suicide bomb detonated outside a cafe near the shrine.^[1] The bombings killed at least 22 people and injured 30.^[1] The dead include seven Iranians.^[1]

Karbala is a city in central Iraq, 80 km (50 mi) south of Baghdad.^[1] It is home to the Imam Husayn Shrine, one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam.^[1] The city had seen several other suicide bombs in the past, including one in April 2007 that killed about 50 people.^[1]

There were two other insurgent attacks the day of the bombing, including a mortar attack and several suicide bombs, both in Baghdad.^[1] The attacks coincided with a visit by US Vice President Dick Cheney.^[1]

No organization has claimed responsibility. Iraqi officials suspected that insurgents affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq carried out the bombing. The governor of Karbala province said the bomber had been a woman but gave few other details.^[1]