Suicide bombers dressed as women blow up yet another masjid

[shiahazara]

Mosque Explosion Kills 52 in Iraq 6 minutes ago



Suicide attackers wearing women's robes blew themselves up Friday in a Shiite mosque in northern Baghdad, killing at least 52 people and wounding more than 160, police said. It was the second major attack against Shiite targets in as many days.

The U.S. military also said Friday that two American troops were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital.

The violence came as U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned that Iraq faces the possibility of sectarian civil war if efforts to build a national unity government do not succeed, and that such a conflict could affect the entire Middle East.

The ambassador later issued a statement offering his "sincerest condolences" and condemning the mosque attack, saying those who carried it out were the "enemies of all faiths and of all humanity." He urged Iraqis to refrain from retaliatory violence and instead "come together to fight terror."

Police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said the blasts were caused by two suicide attackers wearing black abayas at the Buratha mosque, which is affiliated with the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main Shiite party.

Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, the preacher at the mosque and one of the country's leading politicians, said there were three assailants. One came through the women's security checkpoint and blew up first, he said. Another raced into the mosque's courtyard while a third came to his office before detonating themselves, said al-Sagheer, who was not injured.

He accused Sunni politicians and clerics of waging "a campaign of distortions and lies against the Buratha mosque, claiming that it includes Sunni prisoners and mass graves of Sunnis."

"Shiites are the ones who are targeted as part of this dirty sectarian war waged against them as the world watches silently," he told Al-Arabiya television.

The attack occurred as worshippers were leaving after Friday prayers, the main weekly religious service. Earlier Friday, the Interior Ministry cautioned people in Baghdad to avoid crowds near mosques and markets due to a car bomb threat.

Rescuers carried the bodies from the mosque compound on makeshift wooden wheelbarrows and loaded them on the backs of pickup trucks. The Baghdad city council urged Iraqis to donate blood for those wounded.

On Thursday, a car bomb exploded about 300 yards from the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf, the most sacred shrine in Iraq for Shiite Muslims. Ten people were killed, police said.

The attacks were likely to increase tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, already at a high level following the Feb. 22 blast at a Shiite shrine in Samarra and reprisal killings. That bombing triggered a war of reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics.

A senior Sunni politician condemned Friday's attack and called for unity among all Iraqis.

"Bloodshed is forbidden," Adnan al-Duleimi told Iraqiyah television. "I call on all religious figures and politicians to work together to avoid provocative acts of sedition."

The Interior Ministry, which oversees police, said it had received intelligence that insurgents were preparing to set off seven car bombs in Baghdad. Al-Mohammedawi said the alert would remain until the bombs were discovered and deactivated.

Security forces were searching the city, with orders to protect holy sites and be on the lookout for suspicious cars, the statement said, urging citizens to "be cautious, and to avoid gatherings or crowds while leaving markets, mosques and churches."

The statement also warned that legal measures would be taken against "any security official who fails to take the necessary procedures to foil any terrorist attack in his area." The Shiite-dominated ministry faces accusations of militia infiltration in its ranks.

Other car bombs were possibly heading to some southern Iraqi provinces as well, the statement said, putting security forces in the south on high alert.

The death of the U.S. troops raised to at least 2,348 the number of American forces who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

One service member died Friday of wounds suffered while on patrol in western Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The statement said the victim's patrol had come under small arms fire but provided no further details.

Separately, the command said a soldier from the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team was killed Thursday when his combat patrol was struck a roadside bomb near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

Khalilzad, meanwhile, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that political contacts among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders were improving, but that within the general population, "polarization along sectarian lines" was intensifying — in part due to the role of armed militias.

He warned that "a sectarian war in Iraq" could draw in neighboring countries, "affecting the entire region."

"That's a possibility if we don't do everything we can to make this country work," Khalilzad said. "What's happening here has huge implications for the region and the world."

He said the best way to prevent such a conflict was to form a government including representatives of all groups. That effort has stalled over Sunni and Kurdish opposition to the Shiite candidate to lead the government, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Khalilzad avoided any criticism of al-Jaafari. He said many competent Iraqis were capable of leading the government and the current prime minister "certainly is one of them."

Khalilzad said the international community must do everything possible "to make this country work" because failure "would have the most serious consequences for the Iraqis, for sure, but also for the region and for the world."

Rising sectarian tensions — worsened by armed, religiously based militias and death squads — have emerged as a significant threat to U.S. efforts to form a stable society in Iraq.

Last month, Khalilzad said that "more Iraqis are dying today from the militia violence than from the terrorists," meaning Sunni-dominated insurgents.

In the BBC interview, Khalilzad cited the role of armed militias in sharpening sectarian tensions, including armed groups associated with Shiite political parties and Sunni insurgents.

"What I was saying to the Iraqis is that for the success of Iraq, this problem of unauthorized military formations have to be dealt with," he said, adding U.S. officials were working with the Iraqis to develop a plan for curbing militias and would insist that it be implemented.

Khalilzad also confirmed the Americans had been meeting with groups linked to the insurgency and said he believed those contacts were responsible for a decline in the number of attacks against U.S. and coalition forces. Last month, they suffered their lowest monthly death toll in Iraq since February 2005, although the casualty rate has increased somewhat in the first week of April.

He would not specify the groups but said they did not include Saddam Hussein loyalists or "terrorists," presumably excluding extremists of al-Qaida in Iraq or the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.

U.S. officials have in the past confirmed contacts with people who claimed to have links with the insurgents. It was unclear whether these contacts included insurgent commanders or simply intermediaries who support the war against coalition forces

When will it end? Takfiris need to die!

[shamel_ki_jaan]

this will nva end
and itz sad...we cant do nething about it...

[SharpenedMango]

"It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
Dolores Ibarruri

Innocents are dying because Iraq is in the middle of a civil war. Unfortunately innocent shias are dying because the shia people as a whole, rightly or wrongly or seen as being on the whole, Collabarators with the Occupation Government. If perhaps there were less shia in the iraqi military and the police and more shia in the resistance there would be less bloodshed between iraqis.

Im not saying that to justify this despicable violence, what i am saying is that this is how the Iraqi resistance probably feels. i guess they're just trying to force people to pick sides. everyone wants a free iraq, just some people's visions of how to achieve that are different. One side believes in a free iraq achieved with American help, one side believes in a Free Iraq which will be achieved as soon as America leaves.

[MolviCorleone]

blame wahabis not sunnis, who else would want sunnis and shias to fight, sunnis certainly wouldnt go blowing up masjids, only wahabis have a track record of destroying holy places.

[SeKcGaL]

wat the foook

[AFGHAN_ZMARAI]

Originally Posted by MolviCorleone

blame wahabis not sunnis, who else would want sunnis and shias to fight, sunnis certainly wouldnt go blowing up masjids, only wahabis have a track record of destroying holy places.

Actually A Shia once tried to blow up the Kaaba.

IM not pro Wahhabi BUT im Anti Shia , its incorrect to say wahhabis want the Shia and Sunnis to be at odds , Shi'ism and Sunnism has ALWAYS been at odds thats why Shi'a diverged from the mainstream sunni thought.

[MolviCorleone]

Originally Posted by AFGHAN_ZMARAI

Actually A Shia once tried to blow up the Kaaba.

IM not pro Wahhabi BUT im Anti Shia , its incorrect to say wahhabis want the Shia and Sunnis to be at odds , Shi'ism and Sunnism has ALWAYS been at odds thats why Shi'a diverged from the mainstream sunni thought.

but there was peace between us, the wahabis dont exactly like sunnis or the shias. sunnis and shias have differences but sunnis def. dont want to blow up masjids.
Wahabis on the other hand wouldnt care less, afterall they took palestine from the turks(sunnis) and gave it as a free gift to israel via the british-more or less.

[AFGHAN_ZMARAI]

Originally Posted by MolviCorleone

but there was peace between us, the wahabis dont exactly like sunnis or the shias. sunnis and shias have differences but sunnis def. dont want to blow up masjids.
Wahabis on the other hand wouldnt care less, afterall they took palestine from the turks(sunnis) and gave it as a free gift to israel via the british-more or less.

there was peace between us? oh contraire , During the Abbasid times Shi'a tried to hold revoltes against the Khalifah.

Ever hear of the Hashahasheen(assasins)? The Ottomons were in battle with the Shia Safawi , and the Ottomons were also the ones who the Wahhabis targeted first. Shi'ites and Sunnis have been enbattling since time memorial. No doubt others are taking advantage of that tension , but it was there to begin with.

[jihadthisfilth]

Thia is appalling! I am gob smacked... MEN dressed as WOMEN! There is no shame!

[CremeDeLaCreme]

Why are people so quick to actually believe this is a true account of what happended?

The media states that MEN were dressed as WOMEN yet, has anybody heard an eyewitness account (one without an over-voice translation) from the scene?

The double suicide bombing in Baghdad market over a year ago should serve notice to people to question the media. It turned out that the market had been hit by US missiles - shrapnel was recovered.

So people don't be quick to jump on the 'suicide bomber' stories.

[HiGHland~Heather]

Regardles of wat happens - It is absolutely disgusting and horrific, a true dagger in the heart of all muslims!!!

People who want outcry and condemnation of 'terrorist' attacks - well here it is!!


If a Muslim can kill another believing Muslim, that is wen I lose all faith in humanity

[DesiTrix]

It is the Mossad(Israel) trying to make war between Sunnis and Shias.

[rex_maximus]

Originally Posted by DesiTrix

It is the Mossad(Israel) trying to make war between Sunnis and Shias.

of course...the usual scapegoat.

[Indian_Eyess]

I dont get how they know that the suicide bombers are dressed as women and so forth. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but usually after an explosion, its usually hard to tell apart what the suicide bomber was wearing and so forth, unless their bodies are intact, which isnt true.

However, its a shame that our Muslim brothers and sisters are being massacared and not by outside forces but by members of our own community.

[Indian_Eyess]

Originally Posted by rex_maximus

of course...the usual scapegoat.

how do you know they aren't behind it?

[Space-Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Indian_Eyess

I dont get how they know that the suicide bombers are dressed as women and so forth. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but usually after an explosion, its usually hard to tell apart what the suicide bomber was wearing and so forth, unless their bodies are intact, which isnt true.

However, its a shame that our Muslim brothers and sisters are being massacared and not by outside forces but by members of our own community.

How do you know it's members of your community and not an outside force that might benefit from your Shia/Sunni strife?.....

I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories... but............. you know.............

[rex_maximus]

Originally Posted by Indian_Eyess

how do you know they aren't behind it?

some objective thinking helps.

considering israel has ulterior motives with the US invading Iraq, they (israelis) would want things to go as smoothly and hunky dory as possible, because they wouldn't want the american public to grow dissatisfied with the war and hence withdraw support.

so why would the mossad do something like this when they know that know that the more violence there is, the more the the american public starts to doubt the iraq war?

[rreal]

rest in peace

[DesiTrix]

Originally Posted by rex_maximus

some objective thinking helps.

considering israel has ulterior motives with the US invading Iraq, they (israelis) would want things to go as smoothly and hunky dory as possible, because they wouldn't want the american public to grow dissatisfied with the war and hence withdraw support.

so why would the mossad do something like this when they know that know that the more violence there is, the more the the american public starts to doubt the iraq war?

You really think the Israelis care about America? If you do, you are another fool they made.

Israel doesn't need America, they need Amerca just for their dirty work. The oil pipeline leads to Israel..if you can't see that as proof that Israel is behind Iraq war then I don't know what does....

Infact they want the American public to have questions..afterall if you turn on CNN/ABC/FOX..they are trying to their best to reveal everything about 9/11 blaming it on the USA gov... So, wake up!

[chicano_desi]

Originally Posted by SharpenedMango

"It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
Dolores Ibarruri

i thought emiliano zapata made that quote

[rex_maximus]

Originally Posted by DesiTrix

You really think the Israelis care about America? If you do, you are another fool they made.

Israel doesn't need America, they need Amerca just for their dirty work. The oil pipeline leads to Israel..if you can't see that as proof that Israel is behind Iraq war then I don't know what does....

Infact they want the American public to have questions..afterall if you turn on CNN/ABC/FOX..they are trying to their best to reveal everything about 9/11 blaming it on the USA gov... So, wake up!

any links on the pipeline?

considering you're right....what does israel/mossad gain from stirring up shia/sunni violence? doesn't a situation like the bombing in question actually hurt their cause?

[NdNStaTEofMinD]

Originally Posted by rex_maximus

any links on the pipeline?

considering you're right....what does israel/mossad gain from stirring up shia/sunni violence? doesn't a situation like the bombing in question actually hurt their cause?

Isnt Israel on bad terms with the surroundin Arab countries?
Shia/sunni violence would cause increase tensions between the two groups within those countries n make a possible war with them much easier.

[Indian_Eyess]

Originally Posted by rex_maximus

any links on the pipeline?

considering you're right....what does israel/mossad gain from stirring up shia/sunni violence? doesn't a situation like the bombing in question actually hurt their cause?

astrife within the Arab population is beautiful for Israel, that would direct Arab attention from Israel to their own community.

Lets consider that the Israelis DO care about the American public, an Israeli or American hand in the bombings would convince the American public that the US needs to stay in Iraq to maintain some law and order and to help the Iraqis fix themselves up.

[Indian_Eyess]

Originally Posted by Space-Cowboy

How do you know it's members of your community and not an outside force that might benefit from your Shia/Sunni strife?.....

I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories... but............. you know.............

probably, and I guess thats another way of looking at things.

[Space-Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Indian_Eyess

probably, and I guess thats another way of looking at things.

No..., the best way to look at things is to reconcile the differences between the two groups.... in all honesty, the strife has very little to do with religion itself and more to do with differences in standard of living and the perceived power struggle between the two groups...... made only worse with U.S. intervention where one group sees favouritism on the part of U.S. towards one of the groups over the other.