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Blast kills 125 at iraq shiite shrines { March 2 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3811456,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3811456,00.html
Blasts Kill 125 at Iraq Shiite Shrines
Tuesday March 2, 2004 2:01 PM
By TAREK AL-ISSAWI and HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press Writers
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Simultaneous explosions ripped through crowds of worshippers Tuesday at Shiite Muslim shrines in Baghdad and the holy city of Karbala, killing at least 125. It was the bloodiest day since the end of major fighting.
The blasts came during the Shiite festival of Ashoura and coincided with a shooting attack on Shiite Muslim worshippers in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least 29 people and wounded more than 150. The shootings touched off rioting in the city.
The blasts in Karbala killed 50 to 60 people, said Adel Abdel-Mahdi, a senior member of a Shiite political party represented on the council.
The nearly simultaneous bombings at Baghdad's Kazimiya shrine killed at least 75 people, he said. Hundreds were wounded in both cities.
The attacks sparked a wave of Shiite outrage - much of it directed at U.S. troops in the Iraqi capital. American soldiers who arrived at Kazimiya were attacked by angry crowds throwing stones and garbage, injuring two Americans.
U.S. intelligence officials have long been concerned about the possibility of militant attacks during Ashoura. Last month, U.S. officials released what they said was a letter by Jordanian militant Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi outlining a strategy of spectacular attacks on Shiites, aimed at sparking a Sunni-Shiite civil war.
The Iraqi Governing Council condemned the ``evil and terrorism that targets Iraqi unity and seeks to enflame divisions among the people'' in a statement read by a grim-faced Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni Muslim on the council.
Abdel-Mahdi said the Baghdad blasts were believed to have been caused by bombs, possibly planted or carried by suicide attackers.
The Karbala blasts, he added, were believed caused by mortar shells.
Council member Mouafak al-Rubaie said there were Iranians among those killed in Karbala, but gave no exact figures. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, will shortly issue a statement appealing for calm after the attacks, al-Rubaie said.
Abdel-Mahdi belongs to the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, SCIRI, led by Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim. Abdel-Mahdi routinely represents al-Hakim at Governing Council sessions. SCIRI security officials are known to be active in policing Shiite shrines in Iraq.
The attacks in the two cities took place nearly simultaneously as tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims gathered for Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite religious calendar.
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