Over 100 killed as twin bombs hit Gen. Soleimani’s memorial in Kerman
Two terrorist blasts in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman have left at least 103 people dead and 188 more injured during a ceremony marking the fourth martyrdom anniversary of General Qassem Soleimani, according to Iran’s Emergency Organization.
Today, a national mourning was declared.
The security deputy of the Kerman governor verified the terrorist nature of the explosions.
Babak Yektaparast, deputy head of the organization, said that some of the injured were in critical condition.
The explosions occurred near the burial site of martyred Soleimani, where people had flocked to mark the fourth martyrdom anniversary, Press TV reported.
According to IRNA, the first explosion occurred some 700 meters from the grave of General Soleimani, and the second one about one kilometer away.
Tasnim news agency cited unnamed sources as saying that two suitcases loaded with explosives, which were remotely detonated, caused the explosions.
The first explosion occurred at 14:50 local time, and the second took place 15 minutes later. 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 roles 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.