Two car bombs hit the Iraqi city of Kerbala on Monday, killing two people and wounding 50 others, authorities said.

The bombs hit a restaurant and a security checkpoint one km from the Imam Hussein shrine in Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Mohammed al-Mussawi, head of the Kerbala provincial council, told Reuters the blasts were about 500 metres (yards) from the provincial offices.

After the blasts, police heightened security around the Imam Ali shrine in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, about 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

Reuters