Thirty people were killed and 65 wounded in a car bomb blast near the Imam Ali shrine in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf on Sunday.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

   BAGHDAD, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Thirty people were killed and 65 wounded in a car bomb blast near the Imam Ali shrine in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf on Sunday, a hospital official said.

   The blast took place at about 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) in an area that is 400 meters away from the shrine in Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad, witnesses said.

   It seemed that the attack was targeted at Najaf provincial governor Adnan al-Zurufi, who was standing with the city's police chief when the bomb detonated about 100 meters away, said the witnesses.

   A black plume of smoke was seen rising into the sky, they added.

   The attack came two hours after a suicide car bomber exploded his vehicle near the main bus station in Karbala, another Shiite city located about 70 km northwest of Najaf. 

   Hospital officials said 10 people were killed and 40 others injured in that attack. 

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