In a rocket attack on the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala in Baghdad, 7 people have been killed and many injured. The Karbala Police officials noted that several mortars landed and killed seven pilgrims and injuring 46, in a neighborhood a few kilometers northwest of the center of the city. The mortar explosions also ripped through a number of nearby houses in the northwest of Karbala. Meanwhile, a bomb detonated inside a restaurant in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Sadr City, killing five people.1

In another development an Iraqi military helicopter has crashed in a sandstorm southwest of Baghdad, leaving all five of its crew dead, the commander of the country's air force says. Defense ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari confirmed the crash, saying the helicopter was a Russian-designed Mi-17.2

• 1. ”12 killed in Karbala, Baghdad attacks,” Tehran Times, June 29, 2010, at http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=223801
• 2. “Iraq military helicopter crash kills five,“ BBC News, July 28, 2010, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10788989