Explosion rocks revered Iraq mosque, at least nine wounded

KUFA, Iraq – An explosion rocked the Great Mosque in Kufa yesterday, where Shiite rebel leader Moqtada Sadr gives the sermon at the main weekly Muslim prayers, witnesses and the US military said.

At least nine people were wounded, said a medic from the nearby Furat al-Wasat hospital, adding that more injured were being brought in. Some of the wounded were inside the mosque at the time of the explosion, while others were outside, the medic said.”There was an explosion at the Great Mosque at around 7h30.I heard the sound of a rocket land in the ammunition storage inside the mosque,” said Abu Ahmed, a member of Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia, outside the compound.A statement by the US military confirmed that an explosion had taken place and that part of the mosque was on fire.”Subsequent reports also indicate that Iraqi police, who tried to render assistance, were fired on by unknown attackers within the mosque,” it said, stressing that no US troops were in the vicinity of the mosque at the time of the blast.Ambulances sped to the scene to rescue the wounded from the shrine, built on the hallowed ground where one of the founders of the Shiite faith, Ali, was assassinated in 661 AD.”It started at around 7h00 and there were several explosions.It took nine fire engines but the fire was under control by 13h30,” fire commissioner Haidar al-Amily told AFP.”The Mehdi Army in the mosque would not let us anywhere inside the compound.But it would have been more dangerous anyway because of the explosions,” he said.Police lieutenant Abbas Abdel Mahdi said “two walls of the mosque have been completely blackened.”There were no immediate reports of any dead from the blast and ensuing fire but police said they could not rule out the possibility of bodies still lying undiscovered inside the mosque.Although the cause of the blast remained unclear, the explosion shook the latest truce efforts aimed at putting an end to two months of deadly fighting between US forces and Sadr’s militia around Kufa and the adjacent holy city of Najaf.On Sunday, calm appeared to have returned to the twin cities, as residents turned in weapons to the US army under a buy-back programme and Iraqi police again patrolled the streets.Although the local police, assisted by coalition forces, had set up a rapid reaction force to secure the holy sites in Kufa and Najaf, many weapons caches were still thought to be scattered around them.- Nampa – AFPSome of the wounded were inside the mosque at the time of the explosion, while others were outside, the medic said.”There was an explosion at the Great Mosque at around 7h30.I heard the sound of a rocket land in the ammunition storage inside the mosque,” said Abu Ahmed, a member of Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia, outside the compound.A statement by the US military confirmed that an explosion had taken place and that part of the mosque was on fire.”Subsequent reports also indicate that Iraqi police, who tried to render assistance, were fired on by unknown attackers within the mosque,” it said, stressing that no US troops were in the vicinity of the mosque at the time of the blast.Ambulances sped to the scene to rescue the wounded from the shrine, built on the hallowed ground where one of the founders of the Shiite faith, Ali, was assassinated in 661 AD.”It started at around 7h00 and there were several explosions.It took nine fire engines but the fire was under control by 13h30,” fire commissioner Haidar al-Amily told AFP.”The Mehdi Army in the mosque would not let us anywhere inside the compound.But it would have been more dangerous anyway because of the explosions,” he said.Police lieutenant Abbas Abdel Mahdi said “two walls of the mosque have been completely blackened.”There were no immediate reports of any dead from the blast and ensuing fire but police said they could not rule out the possibility of bodies still lying undiscovered inside the mosque.Although the cause of the blast remained unclear, the explosion shook the latest truce efforts aimed at putting an end to two months of deadly fighting between US forces and Sadr’s militia around Kufa and the adjacent holy city of Najaf.On Sunday, calm appeared to have returned to the twin cities, as residents turned in weapons to the US army under a buy-back programme and Iraqi police again patrolled the streets.Although the local police, assisted by coalition forces, had set up a rapid reaction force to secure the holy sites in Kufa and Najaf, many weapons caches were still thought to be scattered around them.- Nampa – AFP