7 Dead, 38 Wounded in Shiite Mosque Bombing
Two Aides of Sistani Killed
Guerrillas parked a car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in the eastern village of Khan Bani Saad on Thursday evening. Then, as Shiites exited the mosque after evening prayers, they detonated it, killing at least 7 and wounding 38. Nine shops nearby were set afire.
Two aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani were killed in separate incidents in Iraq on this week. Sunni guerrillas appear to be behind the attack, the day before yesterday, on Shaikh Mahmud al-Mada’ini in Salman Pak, as he drove home from evening prayers at his mosque in south of Baghdad with his son and four bodyguards. They came up alongside his car and directed machine gun fire at it, killing all 6. Al-Sharaq al-Awsat says al-Mada’ini had earlier faced other attempts on his life.
In Najaf, Shaikh Halim al-Afghani was killed by criminals who had earlier kidnapped his son. This sort of random crime strikes at Iraqis daily in many cities, including the capital, but is seldom reported in the US press.
Guerrillas in Ramadi mounted a spectacular bank robbery, taking advantage of the poor security situation, and carrying off billions of Iraqi dinars ($14 million). Two days before, guerrillas had robbed bank trucks of coin shipments, killing the drivers and setting them on fire.
In Baghdad, guerrillas shot up a minivan of the employees of a Turkish construction company in Baghdad, killing all six, and kidnapping their boss, Abdulkader Tam.
Guerrillas killed two Marines in Anbar Province on Thursday.
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