Perpetrators Tawhid al-Jihad Location Karbala, Iraq | Date 27 December 2003 Attack type Suicide attack | |
Target Coalition military barracks Deaths 5 Bulgarian soldiers
2 Thai soldiers
7 Iraqi policemen
5 Iraqi civilians Non-fatal injuries 200 injured (including 36 coalition soldiers) Perpetrator Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Similar Al‑Suwaira fuel dump explosion, 2010 Baqubah bombings, 2003 Jordanian embassy, 17 August 2005 Baghdad, 2009 Kirkuk bombing | ||
2003 karbala bombings
The 2003 Karbala bombings consisted of four suicide attacks on the coalition military barracks in Karbala, Iraq, 110 kilometres (68 mi) south of Baghdad on December 27, 2003.
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The attackers targeted two coalition bases and a downtown Iraqi police station where U.S. military police were stationed. The attacks occurred within a 20-minute span.
The attacks
Bulgarian guards at the perimeter of their forward base at the Karbala University shot the suicide bomber as the gasoline tanker bore down on the front entrance. Nevertheless, the bomb exploded about 50 feet from the base's main building, killing five Bulgarian soldiers and wounding 27 other of which one died of his injuries the next day. The Bulgarian Army chief of staff, Nikola Kolev, said that they expected these attacks because Karbala was suspiciously peaceful.
In the attack on the Thai Army camp the bomber killed two Thai soldiers and wounded five others when he rammed his vehicle into the walls of the Thai camp. The Thais were confident enough about their security that they planned to send 200 Thai civilians to visit their troops.
In the double attack on the police station 7 Iraqi policemen and 5 civilians were killed. Among the wounded were five American soldiers.