IRAQ: At least four civilians killed in two attacks on mosques in Iraq as sectarian violence continues

Record ID: 354360

  • Title: IRAQ: At least four civilians killed in two attacks on mosques in Iraq as sectarian violence continues
  • Date: 5th March 2006
  • Summary: (DAY SCENES) ONLOOKERS GATHERING NEAR AL-NOOR MOSQUE
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA4L4FS5VLPSNZA4JAU92MO80BR
  • Story Text: At least four civilians were killed and three others wounded in attacks on Shi'ite and Sunni mosques in Iraq, as sectarian violence continued.
    The first was in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, when gunmen attacked "Ahal al-Bayet" Shi'ite mosque late on Saturday (March 4), police said.
    They said that gunmen opened fire on two worshippers who were about to leave the mosque after evening prayer.
    In Baghdad, two mosque security guards were killed and three other people wounded in an attack on'al-Noor' Sunni mosque in al-Jihad neighbourhood of western Baghdad, police said.
    One resident accused the U.S. and Iraqi forces of being behind the attack.
    "(US) humvees and armoured vehicles deployed in the area around the mosque. After that we noticed abnormal movement beside the mosque. They (US and Iraqi forces) put up a ladder, climbing to occupy the flat that faced the mosque. We did not open fire on them; we waited to check the situation we are in. What happened, they put a ladder and climbed to the mosque and we started using microphones as if we are calling for prayer... It was a code we used to inform residents who lived beside that the mosque has been attacked. They (US and Iraqi forces) opened fire on us... They attacked us with different kinds of weapons," Abu Hussein, a witness said.
    Since February 22 when a bomb blamed on al Qaeda demolished the Golden Mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam, sectarian violence has killed more than 450 people by government estimates, pitching Iraq toward civil war.
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