Grenade attack on Kazemiyah shrine stirs anger

By: Hamoud Kufi

KAZEMIYAH, Iraq: The attack on the holy Shrines of Al-Imam Mousa bin Jafar Al-Kazem (p) and Al-Imam Taqi Al-Jawwad (p) in Kazemiyah city has aroused the anger of Iraqis as well as followers of Ahlul Bayt (as) across the world.

According to officials at the shrine unknown attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the mausoleum at 10:00 PM Wednesday.

The attack came on the fourth day of the Islamic month of Muharram when hundreds of thousands of mourners from Iraq and across the world have converged on Kazemiyah and other holy shrines in cities of southern Iraq.

The attack caused a hole in the outer wall of the holy mausoleum and damaged some of its windows. There were no injuries.

The extremist groups belonging to the terror Al-Qaeda Network and elements from the Saddam regime are being accused for the attack. US officials have said insurgents seek to fan tensions between Iraq's Shiite majority and Sunni minority into a civil war.

Earlier this month, US officials confirmed a report in The New York Times that anti-American operatives in Iraq appealed for help from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network to help spark a sectarian war between Shiite and Sunni in a bid to “tear the country apart”.

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