Thursday, February 23, 2006

Civil Unrest Increasing in Iraq

I'm afraid yesterday's attack is really going to be the beginning of the end for a "unified" Iraq. Three imams have been killed and 27 Sunni mosques have now been attacked...I don't know how this can be quelled, and I don't expect it to end well.

Gunmen strike 27 Baghdad mosques, kill imams

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen targeted 27 Baghdad mosques and killed three Sunni imams Wednesday in the wake of a bomb attack at one of the holiest Shiite sites.

The wave of attacks followed an early morning bombing at the Al-Askariya "Golden Mosque" in Samarra. The strikes, involving small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds, all happened between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., police said.

A CNN crew was also caught up in the violence, and in Basra, southern Iraq, a local official said jail inmates were abducted.

Twelve inmates were snatched from the main prison in Basra by gunmen carrying Iraqi government identification cards, a member of the Basra provisional council said.

Around midnight, 10 bodies were found and taken to a hospital where officials were trying to determine if they were among the prisoners, who were of Egyptian, Tunisians, Libyan, Turkish, Saudi Arabian and Iraqi descent.

Posted by crimnos @ 7:57 AM