Two suicide bombers detonated vehicles packed with explosives on the outskirts of the holy Shiite shrine city of Karbala on Thursday killing at least 45 people, a top official said.
At least 150 people were wounded in the twin attacks, which occurred about 20 minutes apart at the Northern and the Southern entrances to the city, 110 kilometres (70 miles) South of Baghdad, the head of Karbala provincial council Mohammed Hamid al-Mussawi said.