Casualties as mortar hits mosque

[cal04]

From correspondents in Baghdad
A MORTAR shell hit the main mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa, just north-east of Najaf, causing dozens of casualties, witnesses said.
The mosque was crowded with men at the time and ambulances raced to the scene to take scores of wounded to a nearby hospital. Dead bodies lay around the mosque compound, witnesses said.

It was unclear who fired the mortar. US forces have battled Shiite insurgents loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr in neighbouring Najaf for three weeks. In the past, Sadr has regularly used the mosque to deliver sermons at Friday prayers.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10575026%255E1702,00.html

Explosions near the main mosque in the Iraqi town of Kufa killed and wounded many people on Thursday, a Shi'ite cleric at the scene told Reuters. The cause of the blasts was unclear. Kufa is adjacent to the battered city of Najaf, and is a main powerbase for radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mehdi militia has led a bloody rebellion in Najaf for three weeks. A Reuters photographer at a Kufa hospital said many casualties were being brought in. Sadr supporters accused U.S.-led forces of launching an attack on the mosque.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
As the Shi'ite cleric at the scene spoke to Reuters, the sound of screams and ambulance sirens could be heard in the background.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6073631

[still_one]

1. it's clear who did it, they just don't want to say

[BadGimp]

2. Have the US (oops) Coalition Forces been using mortars?

I can't speak to this..

[allemand]

3. BBC: Blast at Iraq mosque 'kills 25'

Last Updated: Thursday, 26 August, 2004, 06:22 GMT 07:22 UK

An explosion at or near a mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa, close to troubled Najaf, is reported to have left many people dead and injured.

Hospital sources in Kufa say at least 25 people have been killed.

The mosque is often used for Friday sermons by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr whose fighters are under siege in Najaf, AP news agency says.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3600384.stm

I remember having read that yesterday there were mortars fired at a police station In Kufa that landed in a neighborhood and killed two people.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

4. Unclear who fired mortar...

...this keep on cropping up again, and again. The AC-130's shoot mortar rounds, among other weapons.

[NickB79]

5. Not mortars

AC-130's are armed with 20mm cannons, 40mm cannons, and 105mm howitzers. A US mortar shell is 80mm, if I'm not mistaken.

[TheWraith]

10. Close, US mortars are 60mm, 81mm, 107mm, and 120mm. NT.

[allemand]

6. There a many possibilities

I doubt that it was an American rocket gone astray, but that is, of course, one possibility.
Al-Sadr supporters do fire homemade mortars, but for several of them to hit the main mosque in Kufa while it is full of people... That certainly looks intentional.

I think that al-Zarqawi is most likely the culprit:

- he hates Shiites
- he wants to provoke a Shiite uprising as he declared in a letter in early February

[TheWraith]

9. Zarqawi is dead.

Has been since April/May, or at least so agrees the AP, Army, and CIA. He's the damn phantom menace.

[allemand]

12. Well, even if Zarqawi is dead, his group certainly isn't

And they share the same ideology and hatred for Shiites.
I am pretty sure that Al-Qaeda or Al-Qaeda like groups are operation now inside Iraq.
Let's face it, thanks to Bush, Iraq now really matches all the criteria for a "Failed State", where Islamist from the whole region enjoy freedoms they don't have in Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia or Jemen.

[TheWraith]

8. Sorta.

Actually, the AC-130 Spectres fire 105mm Howitzers. It's a little different than a mortar, though the two could easily be confused if you're on the receiving end, since they're both medium sized flying bombs. Howitzers are longer-range, can be used as direct-fire weapons, and are basically like giant tank shells. Mortars are shorter range, and are a ballistic weapon.

[Nightowl_2004]

16. Well, in the technical sense of the word, No.

The Armament of an AC-130H Spectre includes:
-Two M61 20mm Vulcan cannons with 3,000 rounds
-One L60 40mm Bofors cannon with 256 rounds
-One M102 105mm howitzer with 100 rounds

The Armament of an AC-130U Spooky includes:
-One 25mm GAU-12 Gatling gun (1,800 rounds per minute)
-One L60 40mm Bofors cannon (100 shots per minute)
-One M102 105mm cannon (6-10 rounds per minute)

No Mortars, In a very technical sense of the word, but certainly some weapons powerful enough to kill 27 people with a single shot. Do any articles say how many rounds were fired?

[blitzen]

7. at least 27 dead..... "big social explosion" now likely (Juan Cole)

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10575445%255E401,00.html



This is just what Juan Cole was warning about yesterday: "The stakes here are enormous. If Iraqi police fire on the peaceful demonstrators again, or if US troops refuse to make way for Sistani, there could be a big social explosion in Iraq." He was talking about the demonstrators at the Kufa mosque--of whom at least 27 were just killed.

[tedzbear]

11. I think Allawi's police thugs did it.

He is trying to incite Sadr's forces to keep Sistani's peace effort from suceeding. Allawi doesn't want Sistani to turn into the big man in Iraq. That job's his.

[allemand]

13. Now CNNI reports sniper fire at crowds trying to march from Kufa to Najaf

Just like yesterday. Apparently, a CNN reporter (Kianne Sadeq) is with them.

Can this get any worse???

[OnceUponATime]

14. Gulp

This is nerve-wracking. It has all the makings of a bad situation. Whoever fired the mortars and is sniping at the marchers, it might not matter. The US will likely be blamed for the totality of the situation.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the proverbial expletive doesn't hit the fan tomorrow.

:scared:

[allemand]

15. Some people in Kufa already blame US forces

"Some witnesses said they believe the mortars or rockets came from a nearby U.S. military base, a little over a mile (2 km) away."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/26/iraq.main/index.html

I find that very unlikely, but that is what many Shiites in Iraq will believe.

From the same CNN story:

"The U.S. military categorically denied any involvement in the attack, saying their forces have not conducted military operations in the area for over 48 hours."

And the governor of Najaf blames al Qaeda:

"Najaf governor calls truce, denies Kufa blame

<...>

The governor also said that neither U.S. forces nor Iraqi government forces were responsible for an attack on a mosque in nearby Kufa that killed at least 25 people. He blamed al Qaeda for the attack. "

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2675054.htm

(Ed. to add information)

[allemand]

17. And once the Chinese whisper reaches..., well, China, the headline reads:

13 killed, 75 wounded after US troops fire on Kufa demonstration

NAJAF, Aug. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Thirteen people were killed and about 75 were wounded on Thursday when US troops opened fire in Kufa at a crowd en route to the holy city of Najaf, Xinhua correspondent said.

   The shooting occurred when hundreds of people were marching from Imam Issa al-Tammar in Kufa to Najaf under the call of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to save the sacred Imam Ali Shrine.

   US forces opened fire on the crowd, killing 13 people and injuring about 75 others, Haider abdul Hussein, a doctor in Kufa told Xinhua.

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/26/content_1889370.htm

There is probably a mix-up with the casualties of the mortar attack, and it is more likely that Iraqi police fired at the demonstration.