Twin Kufa Attack Kills
Peaceful MarchersBy Aljazeera
26 August, 2004
Aljazeera.net
Two attacks in and around Kufa has left at least 47 people dead and scores wounded.
The first attack on Thursday targeted a huge gathering around the main mosque, while the second struck at thousands marching towards Najaf, where al-Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr have been defying US-led forces in a bloody standoff.
It was not clear who mounted the attack on the Iraqis in Kufa, who included supporters al-Sadr and senior Shia spiritual leader Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani.
On Thursday morning, a mortar attack on the main mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa killed 27 people and wounded 63 others who had gathered to march to Najaf, hospital officials and witnesses said.
Soon after, thousands of demonstrators from Kufa loyal to al-Sadr and al-Sistani marched on nearby Najaf, but came under fire from a base between the two cities housing Iraqi national guardsmen and US troops, witnesses said.
Scattered
The marchers scattered when the gunfire broke out. Casualties were carried away in private civilian vehicles and ambulances.
Vehicles have rushed wounded to
the nearest medical facilities
An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw at least one body and witnesses reported seeing other casualties.
A Reuters photographer said he saw 20 bodies under blankets.
The day before, armed men shooting from the same base killed two people and wounded five others who were taking part in what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration supporting al-Sadr, according to footage from Associated Press Television News and hospital officials.
Mosque gathering
Earlier, the gathering at the Kufa main mosque was in response to al-Sistani's call to Iraqis to head to the besieged Imam Ali shrine.
The local hospital has struggled to
accommodate all the casualties
"We were gathering outside and inside the mosque preparing to head to Najaf when two mortar shells landed, one inside the mosque and the other on the main gate," said Hani Hashim, bringing an injured friend to the hospital.
"This is a criminal act. We just wanted to launch a peaceful demonstration."
Ambulances raced to the scene to take scores of wounded to a nearby hospital, reported our correspondent. Dead bodies lay around the mosque compound, witnesses said.
Hussam al-Hussaini, an aide to Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, said one mortar shell hit the mosque itself and two others hit near the mosque gates.
Corpses
Al-Hussaini said another mosque in Kufa had also been hit by mortar rounds. It was unclear whether there were casualties there.
"This is a criminal act. We just wanted to launch a peaceful demonstration"Hani Hashim,
resident
Muhammad Abd al-Khadum, an official at al-Furat al-Awsat hospital in Kufa, said 27 people were killed and 60 injured. More than a dozen bloodied corpses lay in the hospital's garden because the morgue was too small to accommodate them.
Outside the hospital's gate, crowds of angry people gathered, shouting "Allahu Akbar!"
US occupation forces have battled fighters of the al-Mahdi Army loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr in neighbouring Najaf for the last three weeks.
In the past, al-Sadr has regularly used the mosque to deliver sermons at Friday prayers.
On Wednesday, three mortar rounds, apparently targeting a police checkpoint, hit a civilian area in Kufa, killing two civilians, including an eight-year-old boy, and wounding four others, witnesses and hospital officials said.
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