Large Sunni mosque destroyed in Iraq
Pastor Dale Morgan
Large Sunni mosque destroyed in Iraq*
From correspondents in Basra
June 15, 2007 07:03pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
A REVERED Sunni mosque was destroyed in a bomb attack near the southern
Shiite city of Basra today by a group pretending they wanted to film the
shrine, an Iraqi army officer said.
"A group of people carrying a camera arrived at the Talha bin Zubair
mosque," said Major General Ali Mussawi, head of a government formed
security committee for the province.
"They said they wanted to film the mosque. But they went after planting
bombs around it."
He said there were two explosions within minutes of each other that
destroyed the two domes and a minaret on the mosque which is located
near the town of Zubair, west of Basra.
"The mosque is completely destroyed," Maj-Gen Mussawi said, adding that
the mosque security guards had been detained and the site surrounded by
troops.
Several Sunni mosques have been attacked or bombed in tit-for-tat
violence since Wednesday's bombing of the Shiite Al-Askari shrine in the
northern town of Samarra.
The Samarra shrine was first attacked on February 22, 2006, which
triggered brutal nationwide Shiite and Sunni clashes in Iraq that
continue to this day.