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Many killed in Mosul funeral blast
At least 47 people have been killed and more than 90 wounded in an explosion at a Shia funeral service in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, witnesses and hospital officials said.
"Many people were killed or wounded when a bomber blew himself up in the hall where the funeral service was being held," one witness said.
The bomber struck when mourners flocked into a hall adjacent to the al-Sadrin mosque in the city's Tamim neighbourhood on Thursday.
Iraqi and US soldiers quickly surrounded the scene of the attack.
Mosul hospital doctor Sahir Mahir said said US troops took 10 "very critical cases" to a military medical facility at their base in the city.
"As we were inside the mosque, we saw a ball of fire and heard a huge explosion," said Tahir Abd Allah Sultan, 45. "After that blood and pieces of flesh were scattered around the place," he added.
Stained in blood
The explosion took place during a funeral in the courtyard of a mosque that was still under construction. The mosque is located in a poor Mosul neighbourhood and surrounded by many homes.
Rows of overturned white plastic chairs were stained in blood, which also pooled around the courtyard.
Body parts, believed to be of the bomber, were scattered around the area and the stench of gunpowder and blood clouded the yard.
Police chief killed
Earlier on Thursday, a Baghdad police chief was gunned down in an ambush in the capital's southwestern side that also killed two others, hospital sources said.
"We received the bodies of three policemen, including Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmad Ubaiss," a medic at Yarmuk hospital, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Ubaiss was the chief of the Salhiya police station on the capital's west side, the source said.
Witnesses said armed men in vehicles opened fire on Ubais' convoy at 8am (0500 GMT) as it drove through Darwish Square in the al-Saidiyah neighbourhood.
An hour earlier and in a nearby area, an Iraqi army patrol hit a roadside bomb, damaging a vehicle without causing casualties, according to army Captain Jabbar Amir.
Attacks against Iraq's fledgling security forces are a daily occurrence.
Security obstacle
Two years on, security remains one of the main obstacles in getting the engine of rebuilding going and this was highlighted on Wednesday when a truck bomber rammed into the back of a hotel in Baghdad used by US contractors, injuring 30 of them, four of them seriously.
Muwaffaq al-Rubai, a member of Shia front-runner Ibrahim al-Jafari's bloc and current security adviser to the outgoing US-allied government of Iyad Allawi, said security would top the agenda of the new government while sounding confident that life was getting safer for Iraqis.
"We are progressing very well, security is much better than before," he said on Tuesday, linking the ongoing violence to international terrorism and not the armed fighting, which he said was "finished."
"Terrorism is not only an Iraqi phenomenon ... it will take a few years to eradicate this malignant cancer," al-Rubai said.
In a separate development on Thursday, US forces surrounded Baiji town in northern Baghdad, Aljazeera learned.
Police said the action was taken after a US soldier was killed at the city's police station by unknown snipers.
Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/40D1CE62-54B3-4846-A2E2-4BAA17A61478.htm
At least 47 people have been killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up at a Shia funeral service in the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Medical officials said at least 90 people were also wounded in the attack, which happened in a poor neighbourhood.
The bomber struck as mourners crowded into a hall next to the mosque.
Iraqi officials have accused Sunni Muslim insurgents of attacking Shia targets in order to spark a civil war in the religiously divided country.
The attack was at the Shahidain mosque which is surrounded by cheap housing in Mosul's central Tameem neighbourhood.
Witnesses described seeing a ball of fire and hearing a huge explosion inside the courtyard of the mosque, which is still under construction.
"After the cloud of smoke and dust dispersed we saw the scattered bodies of the fallen and smelled gunpowder," Adnan al-Bayati, a 45-year-old witness, is quoted as saying.
The force of the blast shattered car windows and left pools of blood on the ground.
Upsurge in violence
Mosul, an Arab-majority city in the mainly Kurdish northern region, has been the scene of fierce clashes between insurgents and US forces and Iraqi government forces since November.
Tensions have risen between the three main groups in the area - Sunni Arabs, Shias and Kurds.
The attack in Mosul comes at the end of two days of violence in which a several were killed and dozens of dead bodies found.
Gunmen shot dead the chief of a central Baghdad police station and at least two other Iraqi policemen during ambushes earlier on Thursday.
On Wednesday a suicide car bomb attack reportedly carried out by a group linked to al-Qaeda killed at least three people and injured more than 20 people in the capital.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says recent months have seen many provocative attacks on Shia targets and gatherings by the insurgents, who have their roots in the Sunni community.
He says one of the aims is clearly to trigger sectarian clashes, but Shia religious leaders have called on their followers not to be drawn into communal conflict.
So far they have been remarkably successful in restraining them, our correspondent adds.
In a separate development, reports from Baghdad say the Shia grouping that won the majority vote in Iraq's elections is poised to form the next government after striking a deal with Kurdish parties.
The United Iraqi Alliance, backed by the Shia clergy, is likely to name a new cabinet next week, according to officials on both sides quoted by Associated Press.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4337363.stm
The bomber struck when mourners flocked into a hall adjacent to the al-Sadrin mosque in the city's Tamim neighbourhood on Thursday.
Iraqi and US soldiers quickly surrounded the scene of the attack.
Mosul hospital doctor Sahir Mahir said said US troops took 10 "very critical cases" to a military medical facility at their base in the city.
"As we were inside the mosque, we saw a ball of fire and heard a huge explosion," said Tahir Abd Allah Sultan, 45. "After that blood and pieces of flesh were scattered around the place," he added.
Stained in blood
The explosion took place during a funeral in the courtyard of a mosque that was still under construction. The mosque is located in a poor Mosul neighbourhood and surrounded by many homes.
Rows of overturned white plastic chairs were stained in blood, which also pooled around the courtyard.
Body parts, believed to be of the bomber, were scattered around the area and the stench of gunpowder and blood clouded the yard.
Police chief killed
Earlier on Thursday, a Baghdad police chief was gunned down in an ambush in the capital's southwestern side that also killed two others, hospital sources said.
"We received the bodies of three policemen, including Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmad Ubaiss," a medic at Yarmuk hospital, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Ubaiss was the chief of the Salhiya police station on the capital's west side, the source said.
Witnesses said armed men in vehicles opened fire on Ubais' convoy at 8am (0500 GMT) as it drove through Darwish Square in the al-Saidiyah neighbourhood.
An hour earlier and in a nearby area, an Iraqi army patrol hit a roadside bomb, damaging a vehicle without causing casualties, according to army Captain Jabbar Amir.
Attacks against Iraq's fledgling security forces are a daily occurrence.
Security obstacle
Two years on, security remains one of the main obstacles in getting the engine of rebuilding going and this was highlighted on Wednesday when a truck bomber rammed into the back of a hotel in Baghdad used by US contractors, injuring 30 of them, four of them seriously.
Muwaffaq al-Rubai, a member of Shia front-runner Ibrahim al-Jafari's bloc and current security adviser to the outgoing US-allied government of Iyad Allawi, said security would top the agenda of the new government while sounding confident that life was getting safer for Iraqis.
"We are progressing very well, security is much better than before," he said on Tuesday, linking the ongoing violence to international terrorism and not the armed fighting, which he said was "finished."
"Terrorism is not only an Iraqi phenomenon ... it will take a few years to eradicate this malignant cancer," al-Rubai said.
In a separate development on Thursday, US forces surrounded Baiji town in northern Baghdad, Aljazeera learned.
Police said the action was taken after a US soldier was killed at the city's police station by unknown snipers.
Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/40D1CE62-54B3-4846-A2E2-4BAA17A61478.htm
At least 47 people have been killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up at a Shia funeral service in the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Medical officials said at least 90 people were also wounded in the attack, which happened in a poor neighbourhood.
The bomber struck as mourners crowded into a hall next to the mosque.
Iraqi officials have accused Sunni Muslim insurgents of attacking Shia targets in order to spark a civil war in the religiously divided country.
The attack was at the Shahidain mosque which is surrounded by cheap housing in Mosul's central Tameem neighbourhood.
Witnesses described seeing a ball of fire and hearing a huge explosion inside the courtyard of the mosque, which is still under construction.
"After the cloud of smoke and dust dispersed we saw the scattered bodies of the fallen and smelled gunpowder," Adnan al-Bayati, a 45-year-old witness, is quoted as saying.
The force of the blast shattered car windows and left pools of blood on the ground.
Upsurge in violence
Mosul, an Arab-majority city in the mainly Kurdish northern region, has been the scene of fierce clashes between insurgents and US forces and Iraqi government forces since November.
Tensions have risen between the three main groups in the area - Sunni Arabs, Shias and Kurds.
The attack in Mosul comes at the end of two days of violence in which a several were killed and dozens of dead bodies found.
Gunmen shot dead the chief of a central Baghdad police station and at least two other Iraqi policemen during ambushes earlier on Thursday.
On Wednesday a suicide car bomb attack reportedly carried out by a group linked to al-Qaeda killed at least three people and injured more than 20 people in the capital.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says recent months have seen many provocative attacks on Shia targets and gatherings by the insurgents, who have their roots in the Sunni community.
He says one of the aims is clearly to trigger sectarian clashes, but Shia religious leaders have called on their followers not to be drawn into communal conflict.
So far they have been remarkably successful in restraining them, our correspondent adds.
In a separate development, reports from Baghdad say the Shia grouping that won the majority vote in Iraq's elections is poised to form the next government after striking a deal with Kurdish parties.
The United Iraqi Alliance, backed by the Shia clergy, is likely to name a new cabinet next week, according to officials on both sides quoted by Associated Press.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4337363.stm
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Suicide bomb kills 47 and wounds 100 at funeral in Shia mosque
By David Enders in Baghdad
11 March 2005
A suicide bomber struck a Shia mosque during a funeral in Mosul, northern Iraq, yesterday, killing at least 47 people and wounding more than 100.
"As we were inside the mosque, we saw a ball of fire and heard a huge explosion," said Tahir Abdullah Sultan, 45, one of the mourners at the mosque in the Tel Afar district of the city. "After that, blood and pieces of flesh were scattered around the place."
Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, about 220 miles north of Baghdad, has become a centre of intense guerrilla activity in recent months. Iraqi officials identify it as a major centre for money and weapons coming across the Syrian border. They also suspect many of the fighters thought to have fled Fallujah before the US assault in November travelled to Mosul.
Shia mosques and funerals have become targets for insurgents. A wave of bombings last month during the celebration of Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shia religious calendar, killed about 100. At the behest of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest ranking Shia cleric in the country, the Shia have largely abstained from taking revenge against minority Sunnis, who make up the largest group involved with the insurgency.
Many Shia identify their attackers not simply as Sunnis but as former members of the now-banned Baath party of Saddam Hussein or as Salafists, members of a radical strain of Sunni Islam, similar to that preached by Osama bin Laden. Salafists view Shias as apostates.
Mosul was largely quiet until last year, when the US military's 101st Airborne Division withdrew from the area. The 101st, which had been responsible for the area since the invasion in 2003, had maintained about 20,000 troops in the area, and was replaced by a force of about 8,000. At the time, Mosul residents expressed fear the withdrawal might lead to chaos.
In a second attack in Mosul yesterday, insurgents killed the son of the city's police chief, Mohammed Ahmed al-Jabouri. Mr Jabouri has become well-known in Iraq for his television appearances issuing threats and deadlines to insurgents, and also on a programme on the country's state-run station in which captured insurgents confess to crimes, often in the presence of victims' families.
While the US-backed interim government set up a new Iraqi police force, army and security service, there is little sign of success in quelling insurgencies. Violence has raged as Iraqi politicians struggle to form a new government following the January elections, which gave Shias power after decades of Sunni control.
Yesterday's attacks coincided with warnings from politicians that a proposed alliance between the Shias and the Kurdish parties to form Iraq's next government may be in jeopardy with the most sensitive issues unresolved. The two parliamentary groups, which have two-thirds of the seats needed to form a government between them, have been afflicted by disagreements which have stalled negotiations and left the nation in political limbo.
Meanwhile, the violence yesterday was not confined to Mosul. In Baghdad, gunmen killed at least five police officers in two separate incidents. Mr Jabouri said insurgents dressed in police uniforms had set up a checkpoint in a southern Baghdad neighbourhood to mount one of the attacks. He also said a high-ranking ministry of interior official was injured in an assassination attempt.
Gunmen in two cars opened fire on a pick-up truck in central Baghdad carrying Colonel Ahmed Abeis, the head of the Salihiyah police station, killing him, his driver and a guard.
Police in western Iraq found the bodies of four Iraqi soldiers dumped by insurgents on the highway near the town of Rutba, adding to the death toll of 41 security force men whose bodies some shot, others beheaded were found earlier this week.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=618841