2003 Karbala bombings

The 2003 Karbala bombings consisted of four suicide attacks on the coalition military barracks in Karbala, Iraq, 110 km south of Baghdad on December 27, 2003.

The attackers targeted two coalition bases and a downtown Iraqi police station where U.S. military police were stationed. The attacks occurred within a 20-minute span.

The attacks
Bulgarian guards at the perimeter of their forward base at the Karbala University shot the suicide bomber as the gasoline tanker bore down on the front entrance. Nevertheless, the bomb exploded about 50 feet from the base's main building, killing five Bulgarian soldiers and wounding 27 other of which one died of his injuries the next day. The Bulgarian Army chief of staff, Nikola Kolev, said that they expected these attacks because Karbala was suspiciously peaceful.

In the attack on the Thai Army camp the bomber killed two Thai soldiers and wounded five others when he rammed his vehicle into the walls of the Thai camp. The Thais were confident enough about their security that they planned to send 200 Thai civilians to visit their troops.

In the double attack on the police station 7 Iraqi policemen and 5 civilians were killed. Among the wounded were five American soldiers.