KARBALA, Iraq – Two bombs within minutes of each other exploded at a restaurant early Wednesday in Iraq’s shrine city of Karbala ahead of Arafa day and Eid al-Adha holiday to make insecurity, wounding at least 26 Shia, police and medical officials said.

The first bomb targeted diners inside the restaurant in the heart of the city, located 110 kilometres (69 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, around 9:00 am (0600 GMT), causing several injuries, police said.

They say a suicide bomber on a motorcycle then drove toward the crowd and detonated his explosives.

The officials spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

However, a second bomb minutes later, after an ambulance and medics had arrived to help the wounded, caused most of the casualties.

A senior health official for Karbala province said that at least 26 people had been wounded in the attacks.

The four-day holiday of Eid al-Adha begins in Iraq on Saturday.