BAGHDAD , Iraq ( CNN ) -- Two bombings overnight near major shrines in the holy Shiite city of Karbala left at least three people dead and 15 others wounded , an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said Thursday . One of the blasts to hit Karbala came close to the Imam Abbas mosque , pictured here in August . There were no claims of responsibility so far for incidents at the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas mosques -- two of the holiest shrines for Shiite Muslims -- who regularly make pilgrimages to the sites in the south-central Iraqi city . The first bomb , which had been placed in a trash bag , detonated shortly after 11 p.m. ( 4 p.m . ET ) Wednesday about 800 meters ( 875 yards ) from the Imam Hussein shrine and 200 meters ( 218 yards ) from an Iraqi security forces checkpoint , the official said . One woman was killed and 12 others , including women and children , were wounded . About an hour later , an explosive device placed in a car detonated about 500 meters ( 547 yards ) from the Imam Abbas shrine , the official said . The attack killed one civilian and wounded three , and damaged a number of the houses in the area . The two shrines are about several hundred meters from each other . Hussein , the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed , is revered by Shiites , while Abbas is Hussein 's half-brother . Their tombs are located in the shrines . Fierce fighting occurred near the shrines in Karbala in August 2007 between Shiite rivals -- members of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr 's Mehdi Army Mehdi Army and security officers affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq . The battles spread to other Shiite communities in Iraq , and eventually died down and led to al-Sadr 's call for a cessation of activities by the militia . U.S. and Iraqi authorities said that cease-fire was a factor in decreasing the violence that had been raging in Iraq . Bomb attacks near other religious shrines in Iraq have happened several times in the past . The bombing of the Askariya Mosque , a Shiite shrine in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra in February 2006 , sparked sectarian violence that led to thousands of deaths and caused people to flee their homes for other parts of Iraq and other countries . In Baghdad 's Sadr City , a Shiite neighborhood , a roadside bomb killed three Housing Ministry employees and wounded three others Thursday morning . The people were in a minibus at the time , the Interior Ministry said .
Two bombs near shrines in holy city of Karbala leave at last three people dead . In Baghdad 's Sadr City , roadside bomb killed three people Thursday morning . Bomb attacks near other religious shrines in Iraq have happened several times . Fierce fighting occurred near the shrines in August 2007 between Shiite rivals .