Gunmen burn Sunni mosque in Iraq in revenge attack

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters AlertNet

Gunmen burn Sunni mosque in Iraq in revenge attack
25 Mar 2007 10:25:53 GMT

BAGHDAD, March 25 (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a Sunni mosque south of Baghdad on Sunday, setting it ablaze a day after a suicide truck bomber struck near a Shi'ite mosque in the same area, police said.

Police in Hilla, close to the town of Haswa, where the attack occurred, said at least four people were wounded. An Interior Ministry official said a curfew had been imposed.

Gunmen stormed the mosque in Haswa, a religiously mixed town about 50 km (35 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, and destroyed its minaret in a blast. The building was set on fire, a police official said, describing it as an apparent revenge attack.

A suicide truck bomber exploded near a Shi'ite mosque in Haswa on Saturday, killing 14 and wounding 21, Hilla police said. The provincial health directorate and the Interior Ministry official put the toll at 16.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL537017.htm

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Thanks a pantload for 'liberating' us, Chimpy." - Iraqi citizens

"Dear Commander AWOL,
You and your War Profiteering republicon cronies have done a swell job of making the world safer for rich republicons on the golf course. Too bad you have made such a Screaming Ugly Mess of everything else.

"Please go back to your posh Connecticut prep school, and stop pretending to be some kind of Texan war hero. That shit don't float, and too many people die because of your idiocy, cowardice and greed."

- The Iraqi People

[Eugene]

2. Shiite militants bomb Sunni mosque (two mosques attacked, fighting)

Source: Associated Press

Shiite militants bomb Sunni mosque

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
57 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Suspected Shiite militants bombed a Sunni mosque
in southern Iraq on Sunday in apparent retaliation for a suicide
attack the day before against a Shiite shrine in the same city
that killed 11 people, police said.

The explosives blew a hole in the minaret of the Sunni mosque
in Haswa, a predominantly Shiite city 30 miles south of Baghdad,
but the mosque was empty and no casualties were reported.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Article continues with other events around Iraq.
Also, the final AP count of killings Saturday is 74.

---

Source: Reuters

US, Iraqi troops battle gunmen after mosque attack
25 Mar 2007 11:40:12 GMT

-snip-

BAGHDAD, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with
gunmen in a town south of Baghdad on Sunday shortly after a Sunni
mosque was set ablaze in an apparent revenge attack for the
destruction of a Shi'ite mosque in the town a day earlier.

Gunmen stormed the Sunni mosque in Haswa, a religiously mixed town
about 50 km (35 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, on Sunday morning
and destroyed its minaret in a blast. The building was set on fire,
a police official said.

They said at least four people were wounded. A second Sunni mosque
was attacked but damage was reported to be minor.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL537017.htm

[Eugene]

3. Iraqi Police Detain Suspected Bomber

Source: Associated Press

Iraqi Police Detain Suspected Bomber


Sunday March 25, 2007 12:46 PM

AP Photo BAG103, BAG101

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi police detained a man as he was trying to
detonate an explosives-laden truck filled with chlorine in Ramadi,
the military said Sunday.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon when a white cargo truck
stopped near the entrance to a police station, about 150 yards
from a water treatment plant in the Sunni city, according to a
statement.

Police detained the driver after discovering the truck was rigged
with more than two tons of explosives. Five, 1,000-gallon barrels
filled with chlorine also were hidden under several 55-gallon drums,
the military said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6507094,00.html

---

Related: FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, March 25 - Reuters

[rodeodance]

4. get out now!

[Eugene]

5. Clashes erupt in central Baghdad; 2 dead

Source: Associated Press

Clashes erupt in central Baghdad; 2 dead

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - With U.S. attack helicopters buzzing overhead, gunmen
and Iraqi security forces clashed Sunday in a Sunni area in central
Baghdad, and police said at least two people were killed in fighting
in the neighborhood's narrow streets and alleys.

The fighting started about 1:30 p.m. when gunmen attacked Iraqi
army positions in the Fadhil neighborhood, on the east side of the
Tigris River, police said. The U.S. military said it had no immediate
reports about the fighting.

An Iraqi army colonel from the brigade in charge of the area said
the gunmen were firing at army checkpoints and patrols from
rooftops and the soldiers returned fire, calling for U.S. assistance
when the fighting became fierce. He said the situation had calmed
by late afternoon but sporadic clashes continued.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[slackmaster]

6. Wouldn't that make them "torchmen" rather than "gunmen"?

Gunmen shoot things up.

[DanWithAngel]

7. at least reuters did not say "muslim extremists burned sunni mosque..."

that might have given the impression it was done with a religious fever rather than a mugging.