Samarra Revered Shrine Blown Up

SAMARRA , Iraq, June 13, 2007

Insurgents on Wednesday blew up the two minarets of a revered shrine in the northern town of Samarra.

Unknown insurgents blew up at about 09:00 a.m. two shrines of the Imam Ali al-Hadi and the al-Hasan al-Askari shrines (peace be upon them) by roadside bombs, totally damaging the minaret of the two shrines.

Earlier, several mortar rounds landed near the two shrines, but no casualties and damaging were reported immediately.

On Feb. 22 of 2006, the Shiite shrine of Ali al-Hadi, also called the Golden Mosque, was attacked by a bomb, with its 100-year-old golden dome badly damaged.

The shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi (PBUH) is one of the four most revered shrines in Iraq.

It contains two tombs of Imam Ali al-Hadi, who Has been martyred in 868 A.D., and Imam Hassan al-Askari who has been martyred in 874 A.D.

The two are the 10th and 11th of the Shiite's twelve most revered Imams.

A top Iraqi official said the tall structures of the shrine of Imam Hadi and Imam Hassan Askari (Peace Be Upon Them) came down at around 9:00 am local time.

Sheikh Saleh al-Haidiri, head of the endowment administrative body responsible for shrines in Iraq, said the minarets were blown up by "terrorists".

"It is a terrorist attack ... the second one against the shrine," Haidiri said in Baghdad, adding It is a terrorist attack aimed at sparking sectarian Violence."

On February 22, 2006, alleged Al-Qaeda insurgents bombed the shrine in an attack which triggered brutal nationwide clashes that are still continuing.

The mosque compound and minarets remained intact, and have been guarded since then by Iraqi police and commandos.

The US military headquarters in the area had no immediate information about Wednesday's attack.