An Iraqi security official says a suicide bomber has struck a wedding south of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people.

Lt. Gen. Qais al-Mohammedawi says five suicide bombers took part in the attack in the village of Ein Tamr on Monday, but that the other four were killed by security forces.

Ein Tamr is about 40 km (25 miles) west of the Shiite holy city of Karbala. </s> Another 16 people were wounded at the wedding Sunday evening in Karbala.

A statement released by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said four suicide attackers targeted "a Shiite gathering."

Iraqi authorities said there were five would-be suicide bombers, and that security members killed four.

The attacker who targeted the wedding sprayed the crowd with automatic gunfire and threw hand grenades before detonating his suicide vest, officials said. </s> (CNN) ISIS has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people and injured 16 others at a wedding late Sunday in the central Iraqi city of Karbala.

A statement released by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said four suicide attackers targeted "a Shiite gathering."

Iraqi authorities said there were five would-be suicide bombers, and that security members killed four.

The attacker who targeted the wedding sprayed the crowd with automatic gunfire and threw hand grenades before detonating his suicide vest, officials said.

Karbala is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Baghdad and is one of the holiest cities for Shiite Muslims.

Developing story - more to come </s> BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi security official says a suicide bomber has struck a wedding south of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people.

Lt. Gen. Qais al-Mohammedawi says five suicide bombers took part in the attack in the village of Ein Tamer on Monday, but that the other four were killed by security forces.

He says they were members of the Islamic State group, which has stepped up attacks on security forces and the country's Shiite majority in recent months as it has suffered a string of battlefield setbacks.

Ein Tamr is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the Shiite holy city of Karbala. </s> BAGHDAD—Islamic State has claimed a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people and injured 16 at a wedding party near the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala late on Sunday.

Five assailants including the suicide bomber attacked the celebration in Ain al-Tamr, west of Kerbala in southern Iraq, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, the police said. All the attackers were killed by security forces.

The bombing is the first in the Kerbala region since Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State militants from their stronghold in Falluja, 50 miles north of city.

The ultra-hardline Sunni group has been retreating since last year in the face of government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition and Iranian-supported Shi'ite militias.

But it remains in control of parts of northern and western Iraq and continues to claim bombings all over the country, targeting mainly Shi'ite districts and cities.

A statement on the Amaq news agency that supports Islamic State said the attack was carried out by four of its suicide fighters against a "gathering of Shi'ites".

Initial reports in local media late, citing security sources, blamed the killings on a dispute between two tribes at the wedding party.

Islamic State claimed a truck bomb that killed at least 325 people in Baghdad's Karrada shopping street in July, the deadliest attack since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. </s> Islamic State has claimed a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people and injured 16 at a wedding party near the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala late on Sunday.

Five assailants including the suicide bomber attacked the celebration in Ain al-Tamr, west of Kerbala in southern Iraq, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, the police said. All the attackers were killed by security forces.

The bombing is the first in the Kerbala region since Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State militants from their stronghold in Falluja, 80 km (50 miles) north of city.

The ultra-hardline Sunni group has been retreating since last year in the face of government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition and Iranian-supported Shi’ite militias.

But it remains in control of parts of northern and western Iraq and continues to claim bombings all over the country, targeting mainly Shi’ite districts and cities.

A statement on the Amaq news agency that supports Islamic State said the attack was carried out by four of its suicide fighters against a “gathering of Shi’ites”.

Initial reports in local media late, citing security sources, blamed the killings on a dispute between two tribes at the wedding party.

Islamic State claimed a truck bomb that killed at least 325 people in Baghdad’s Karrada shopping street in July, the deadliest attack since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. </s> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State has claimed a suicide bombing that killed at least 15 people and injured 16 at a wedding party near the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala late on Sunday.

Five assailants including the suicide bomber attacked the celebration in Ain al-Tamr, west of Kerbala in southern Iraq, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, the police said. All the attackers were killed by security forces.

The bombing is the first in the Kerbala region since Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State militants from their stronghold in Falluja, 80 km (50 miles) north of city.

The ultra-hardline Sunni group has been retreating since last year in the face of government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition and Iranian-supported Shi’ite militias.

But it remains in control of parts of northern and western Iraq and continues to claim bombings all over the country, targeting mainly Shi’ite districts and cities.

A statement on the Amaq news agency that supports Islamic State said the attack was carried out by four of its suicide fighters against a “gathering of Shi’ites”.

Initial reports in local media late, citing security sources, blamed the killings on a dispute between two tribes at the wedding party.

Islamic State claimed a truck bomb that killed at least 325 people in Baghdad’s Karrada shopping street in July, the deadliest attack since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. </s> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed six people near Iraq’s holy city of Kerbala on Monday at the start of a major Shi’ite Muslim ritual, an attack claimed by the hardline Sunni militants of Islamic State.

The bomber blew himself up west of the city where hundreds of thousands of Shi’ites were gathering to mark Arbaeen, which comes at the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.

Security forces killed five of the bomber’s accomplices before surrounding him in a house where he detonated the device in the rural area of Ain al-Tamr, the ministry added.

Islamic State said in a statement it had planned to target Shi’ites, police and army personnel.

Huge crowds visit the shrines of Hussein and his half-brother Abbas in Kerbala, where they were killed in the 7th century AD, in a revolt against the Umayyad ruler Yazeed.

Islamic State says Shi’ite Muslims are apostates and has regularly attacked their mosques and events. </s> Iraq's Defense Ministry said a twin suicide bombing targeting a village wedding north of Baghdad has killed at least 20 people Wednesday, March 8. The ministry said two suicide bombers walked into the wedding party in Al-Hajaj village, near the city of Tikrit, on Wednesday evening. It said up to 13 people were wounded.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Sun-Star. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber killed at least 43 people Tuesday at a wedding hall, where victims had gathered for a religious event, authorities said.

The people were celebrating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad’s birth, a Ministry of Public Health official told NBC News.

At least 80 people were also injured in the attack, officials said.

"A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a wedding hall where Islamic religious scholars had gathered to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Mohammad," Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told Reuters.

Local police were not asked to provide security, so the bomber easily got inside to target all the gathered clerics and religious scholars, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid told The Associated Press.

"The victims of the attack, unfortunately, are all religious scholars who gathered to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad," said Mujahid.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

But both the Taliban and Islamic State have recently targeted other religious gatherings, claiming event organizers are closely aligned with the government that both oppose.
A suicide bombing kills at least 15 people at a wedding in the southern Shiite city of Kerbala.