Twin Blasts Kill 100+ Near Soleimani’s Tomb on Assassination Anniversary
At least 103 people were killed and 141 others injured by explosions at a ceremony in Iran marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. drone assassination of the country’s top general Qassem Soleimani on Wednesday, according to state media reports.
Local television reported that two blasts occurred near the burial place of Gen. Soleimani, who served as head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, in the southeastern city of Kerman. Hundreds of people had assembled close to the cemetery when the explosions took place.
A Kerman province official was quoted by state media as describing the blasts as “terrorist attacks,” Reuters reports. A pair of bags containing bombs were placed along the route the procession followed to the cemetery, officials told state media, according to The New York Times. The explosive devices were then apparently detonated by remote control, the officials added.