By Ali Jawad and Arif Yusuf

BAGHDAD

At least seven people were killed in a suicide bombing on Monday in holy Shia city of Karbala in southern Iraq, according to the Interior Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said six bombers had infiltrated into Ain Tamr, west of Karbala.

“Security forces engaged them, killing five while the sixth bomber managed to blow up himself,” the ministry said.

Army officer lieutenant colonel Safaa Kamel said seven people, including three soldiers, were killed and 12 others injured in the attack.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Monday’s bombing comes two days after Iraqi authorities said they had thwarted a Daesh plot to stage a spate of suicide attacks in the capital Baghdad.

Shias have been flocking to Karbala to commemorate the killing of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, in the 7th century.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh captured the northern city of Mosul – now the subject of a large offensive to retake it – and overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country.

According to the UN, some 58,000 people have been killed in violence since Daesh captured large parts of Iraq in 2014.