Shiite Shrine Bombed in Samarra
One of the holiest of Shiite Muslim shrines has been bombed in the Sunni-dominated Iraqi city of Samarra north of Baghdad. Explosions reportedly caused the collapse of the shrine’s two minarets. The 2006 bombing of the golden dome at the same shrine sparked the rampant sectarian strife in Iraq that continues today.
BBC:
According to witnesses the minarets collapsed completely after being hit by bomb blasts around 0900 (0500 GMT).
The shrine houses one of two tombs in Samarra for revered Shia imams.
The bombing of the dome at the mosque in 2006 is widely believed to have set off a continuing spiral of sectarian violence in which many thousands died.