25 killed in attack on mosque
2004-08-26 10:09
Kufa - At least 25 people were killed and more than 100 wounded on Thursday in a double mortar bomb explosion at the main Kufa mosque compound, controlled by Shiite militiamen, hospital sources said.
Doctors said at least 25 bodies and more than 100 wounded were brought to the Middle Euphrates hospital after the explosions, as they appealed for aid from hospitals in other southern cities in Diwaniyah, Hilla and Karbala.
A reporter saw the wounded, the majority of them men, stretched out in the hospital's garden and groaning in agony in the corridors.
Those who were able to leave after being bandaged up were hurried out by medics to make way for others, the correspondent saw.
Witnesses said hundreds had gathered at the mosque, preparing to greet Iraq's Shiite Muslim spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, travelling home to nearby Najaf, when the mortars struck at around 08:00.
"There were hundreds of us. We came early this morning to the mosque. We were waiting for Sistani, inside and outside. Then at 08:00, two mortars exploded, one near the outer gate and the other inside the compound," said Hani Hashim.
It was not immediately clear where the mortars came from.
Sistani, who returned to Iraq on Wednesday after a spell of medical treatment in London, was on Thursday travelling northwards from Basra to Najaf, where he hopes to bring an end to fighting between United States forces and supporters of rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr.
- AFP