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On February 22, 2006,
at 6:55 a.m, explosions occurred at al-Askari Mosque in Samara,
effectively destroying its golden dome and severely damaging the mosque.
Several men, one wearing a military uniform, had earlier entered the
mosque, tied up the guards there and set explosives, resulting in the
blast. Two bombs were set off by five to seven men dressed as personnel
of the Iraqi Special forces who entered the shrine during the morning.
Sunni extremists have been said to be the responsible for these attacks.
Whilst
Samarra
holds the shrines of two holy imams of the Shia's the city remains more
populated by Sunni groups.
The gunmen that planted the bomb were
said to have seized the guards, including Police men, responsible for
protecting the site and tied them up. Once planting the bomb the gunmen
fled. It is reported that two bombs were set up.
The northern wall of the shrine was
damaged by the bombs, causing the apex of the gilded dome to collapse and
the roof of the surrounding arcades destroying three-quarters of the
structure along with it. Religious artefacts were left beneath the rubble
along with copies of the Quran.
No injuries were reported following
the bombing however the bombing was said to be the most destructive
attack on a major shrine since the
US
invasion. Whilst no deaths
were reported during the attack, 130 have been killed in bloodshed over
the blasts.
Following the blast, American and
Iraqi forces surrounded the shrine and began searching houses in the
area. Five police officers responsible for protecting the mosque were
taken into custody.
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