Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in two terrorist blasts near the burial site of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani in the city of Kerman during a ceremony marking his fourth martyrdom anniversary.
Iran’s Emergency Organization said that the explosions left 73 people dead and at least 170 more injured.
The head of Kerman’s emergency services, Mohammad Saberi, earlier confirmed to Press TV that 73 people were killed and 171 others wounded in the terrorist attacks.
Medical services said the death toll is expected to rise as ambulances were taking the wounded to hospitals, with Babak Yektaparast, deputy head of Iran’s Emergency Organization, saying that some of the injured are in critical condition.
According to IRNA, the first explosion occurred some 700 meters from the grave of General Soleimani and the second one about one kilometre away.
Tasnim news agency cited unnamed sources as saying that two bags loaded with explosives which were remotely detonated caused the explosions. IRNA also quoted an informed source as saying two bomb bags detonated by remote control caused the explosions.
The first explosion occurred at 14:50 local time. The second one took place 10 minutes later, according to Kerman Mayor Saeed Tabrizi, ISNA reported.
Iran’s Red Crescent Society said three rescuers were killed by the second blast.
Some people were injured during a crowd crush following the first explosion. Officials say all the injured have been transferred to hospitals and the situation is under control.
General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and their companions were assassinated in a US drone strike authorized by then-US President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Both commanders were highly revered across the Middle East because of their key role in fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
In less than a week after the attack, Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill that required the government to expel all US-led foreign forces from the country.
The IRGC also targeted the US-run Ain al-Asad base in Iraq’s western province of Anbar with a wave of missile attacks in retaliation for the assassination of General Soleimani.
Press TV
