IRNA � The terrorist attack in Iraq on Thursday has left more than 85 people dead and a lot more injured with 20 Iranian pilgrims also among the victims, says an Iranian official.


A truck bomb went off in the Shoumeli village, 120 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, targeting vehicles loaded with passengers most of them Iranians who were returning home from the holy shrines in Iraq after Arba'een rituals.

The Daesh terrorist group (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

'Relief operation is underway,' Hamid Goudarzi Spokesman for the Arbaeen Central Headquarters told the Islamic Republic News agency (IRNA) in an interview Thursday evening.

'The exact number of the Iranian pilgrims martyred in the terrorist attack not yet clear,' Goudarzi said.

'The vigilance of the Iraqi and Iranian security forces repeatedly foiled attempts by the Daesh terrorist group to mount an attack on pilgrims during the Arbaeen rituals,' he said.

'Now they have launched a terrorist attack at a neighborhood far from the holy shrines,' he added.

According to the Iranian official, most of the Iranian victims are among those who had travelled to Iraq individually to mourn for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) on the 40th day of his martyrdom.