Posted on 08/25/2004 10:45:13 PM PDT by HAL9000
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A mortar shell hit the main mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa, just northeast of Najaf, causing dozens of casualties, witnesses said.The mosque was crowded with men at the time and ambulances raced to the scene to take scores of wounded to a nearby hospital. Dead bodies lay around the mosque compound, witnesses said.
It was unclear who fired the mortar. U.S. forces have battled Shiite insurgents loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in neighboring Najaf for three weeks.
In the past, al-Sadr has regularly used the mosque to deliver sermons at Friday prayers.
Rut Rhoa
General questions:
So who launched the mortar shell?
Is this Sadr's next tactic?
Do we know whether the U.S. is using mortars in this kind of urban situation?
Trial balloon?
That's important.
If it's ours, ouch. It doesn't help.
If it's there's, they're trying to stir up trouble.
The Islamonazis are probably quite familiar with Hitler's provocation called the Reichstag Fire.
Sunnis?
HAL is Najah Iraq new Compton
YIKES they don't know waht cause it
NOT GOOD DUDE
AP News Alert
KUFA, Iraq (AP) -- An aide to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says 15 people have been killed and 30 wounded in a mortar attack on mosque in Kufa.
What if it was MoveOn.org??
Reuters--
Blasts in Town Near Najaf, Many Casualties-Cleric
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040826/ts_nm/iraq_bombing_kufa_dc&cid=564&ncid=1480
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Explosions near the main mosque in the Iraqi town of Kufa killed and wounded many people on Thursday, a Shi'ite cleric at the scene told Reuters.
The cause of the blasts was unclear. Kufa is adjacent to the battered city of Najaf, and is a main powerbase for radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mehdi militia has led a bloody rebellion in Najaf for three weeks.
A Reuters photographer at a Kufa hospital said many casualties were being brought in. Sadr supporters accused U.S.-led forces of launching an attack on the mosque.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
As the Shi'ite cleric at the scene spoke to Reuters, the sound of screams and ambulance sirens could be heard in the background.
I love your posts, Hal but your links never work.
AP News Alert
KUFA, Iraq (AP) -- Hospital officials say 25 people have been killed and 60 wounded in a mortar attack on a mosque in Kufa.
Gosh, somebody doesn't realize that mosques are off limits in wartime even when they are used as a fortress.
Certainly it can't be a Muslim group behind this? /s
I seriously doubt it's ours. Mortars are their tactics, not ours. Mortar launches from outside the wire are very common. We get those things in our base here fairly regularly. They are not accurate and the enemy has to pretty much get lucky with a mortar strike.
Our military uses more precision-oriented equipment when striking, such as the Palladins.
My guess it was Sadr's thugs that shot off the mortar
They are indeed, and with Sistanni marching on Najaf at the moment, it's perfect timing for an incident that can be blamed on those mean infidels. I'm just somewhat surprised that they haven't managed something similar in Najaf yet. Maybe they're waiting for the mob to arrive before they try to provoke them into action.
These are sneaky guys... we underestimate them at our peril.
Not likely. More like the insurgents did it to blame on us. Guess we will find out soon enough.
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