WATCH: Caretaker 'ensured' safety of Iraqi shrine - just before deadly blast
The caretaker of a Shia shrine near Baghdad assured Middle East Eye that the safety of the site was "ensured" only weeks before the deadly Islamic State (IS) group-claimed attack on Thursday night.
Thirty-five people were killed and 65 wounded when IS, using suicide bombers, guns and mortar fire, attacked the Sayyid Mohammed shrine in Balad, a town about 70km north of the capital.
But in late May, Hajj Hussein Jaafar Abbas, the shrine's custodian, told MEE: "Thank God, and thanks to the Popular Mobilisation Units and the armed forces the security of visitors to this holy site has been ensured."
Watch MEE's interview with Abbas:
The attack on the shrine followed a devastating bombing in Baghdad on 3 July that tore through a crowded shopping area ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. At least 292 people were killed and many are still missing.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
