The Hindu : International : Sporadic attacks on Sunni mosques in Iraq

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Friday, Jun 15, 2007
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Sporadic attacks on Sunni mosques in Iraq

BAGHDAD: A handful of Sunni mosques were attacked or burned on Thursday, but curfews and increased troop levels kept Iraq in relative calm a day after suspected Al-Qaeda bombers toppled the towering minarets of a revered Shia shrine.

At least four persons were reported killed in apparent retaliatory attacks in Basra, and a U.S. soldier said at least 12 rockets or mortars rained down on Baghdad's heavily-guarded Green Zone on Thursday afternoon. At least one fell outside Iraq's Pparliament, about 25 minutes before the U.S. State Department's No. 2 official was visiting a nearby American military building.

A senior U.S. military official said there were casualties among non-Americans.

Wednesday's attack on the shrine in Samarra, which was blamed on Sunni extremists, stoked fears of a surge in violence between Muslim sects.

``I just don't think there's any doubt that it was Al-Qaeda that first struck the Al-Askariya in February 2006, and the method this time was very similar to that — [explosive] charges very carefully placed to devastating effect,'' said U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Thursday when pressed for evidence of Al-Qaeda involvement. — AP

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