In the latest attack in Iraq on Wednesday morning, terrorists blew up the dome of Al-‘Askariyya in Samara, one of country’s most famous Shi’ite religious shrines, a local police officer told the Iraqi TV station Al-Furat.
Prior to the attack, the terrorists broke into a police station, adjacent to the shrine, said police sources. They tied up five policemen who were inside, and then planted two explosive devices in the shrine. There were no reports of casualties, but extensive damage was caused to the golden dome of the shrine.
Demonstrations erupted soon after the explosion in Samara, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The shrine contains the tombs of the tenth and eleventh Shi’ite imams, ‘Ali Al-Hadi who died in 868 A.D. (C.E.) and his son Hasan Al-‘Askari who died in 874 A.D. (C.E.)
Eyewitnesses say security forces are searching the area surrounding the shrine, looking for the bombers. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Soon after the attack, Shi’ites across Iraq took to the streets. In less than seven hours it was reported that at least five Sunni mosques had been attacked. It is not yet known how many people died during these attacks.