Kufa mosque damaged as Sadr militia arms depot explodes

By: Hamoud Kufi

KUFA, Iraq: The Great Mosque in Kufa, used to store ammunition used by Moqtada As-Sadr’s Mehdi militia, was rocked by explosions after the depot apparently caught fire Monday afternoon, according to witnesses.

Flames and smoke rose above the building. Firefighters and ambulances rushed to the site, where fighters in Mehdi militia had been holed up. One militiaman blamed an American missile attack, but the US military said it had no troops in the area.

After the explosions in the mosque where cousin and son-in-law of holy Prophet (p) Al-Imam Ali (p) was martyred, doctor Abdul Hadi Mohamed, the head of the morgue at Najaf's Mohamed Baqr Al-Hakim hospital, said: “Two people were killed.”

A further over a dozen people were wounded but there were conflicting reports on the identities of the casualties. Doctor Ali At-Tufaili at Kufa General Hospital said they were civilians, while witnesses and other doctors said the victims were members of Mehdi militia.

According to Police lieutenant Abbas Abdel Mahdi “two walls of the mosque have been completely blackened.” Militiamen prevented reporters from getting close to the arms depot.

The mosque had been the site of near-daily clashes between American troops and Sadr's forces. However, the site had been peaceful since Thursday under a deal meant to end the fighting. Under the plan, Sadr's Mehdi Army is supposed to pull back from the Islamic shrines in Kufa and Najaf, and hand over security to Iraqi police. The US Army agreed to a request from the local governor to keep US troops away from the Kufa mosque to give Iraqi security forces a chance to ease tensions.

In Baghdad's Khalediyah district, another explosion damaged the Sheikh Massoud mosque after five men ordered out worshippers, saying they planned to attack a US convoy, a mosque guard told AFP.

Also on Monday, Iraq's new Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced a deal to disband the country's militias.

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