Imam Ali Mosque bombing
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| Imam Ali Mosque bombing | |
|---|---|
 The Imam Ali Mosque |
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| Location | Najaf, Iraq |
| Target(s) | Imam Ali Mosque |
| Date | August 29, 2003 |
| Attack Type | car bomb |
| Fatalities | 83 |
| Injuries | 500+ |
| Perpetrator(s) | Unknown: no one claimed responsibility |
| Bombings and terrorist attacks of the Iraq War |
|---|
| Attacks with 80+ casualties in bold: Jordanian embassy – UN headquarters – Imam Ali Mosque – 1st Baghdad – Nasiriyah – Karbala – Irbil – Ashoura – Basra – Baqubah – Kufa – FOB Marez – 1st Al Hillah – Musayyib – 2nd Baghdad – 3rd Baghdad – Khanaqin – Al-Askari Mosque – Buratha Mosque – 1st Sadr City – 2nd Sadr City – 4th Baghdad – 5th Baghdad – 6th Baghdad – 7th Baghdad – 8th Baghdad – 2nd Al Hillah – Tal Afar |
The Imam Ali Mosque bombing was the detonation of two car bombs outside of the Shiite Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf on August 29, 2003. The attack killed 83 people crowded around the mosque for Friday prayers, including Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim spiritual leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
The attack was devastating for the Shiite community in Iraq, due to the fact that such a revered cleric was killed and so many lives were lost. The bombing was the deadliest attack in Iraq in 2003. In response to the attack, thousands of Shiite mourners marched in the streets of cities and towns across Iraq. The mourners, many of whom blamed Saddam Hussein's loyalists for the attack, held anti-Baathist protests. No one has claimed responsibility, and Saddam himself released a tapped audio message in which he denied having any involvement.
[edit] Investigation
The fact that the attack came in the midst of a pattern of violence against Shia clerics in Najaf in the weeks leading up to his death (Al-Hakim was the fourth to be assassinated) led some to conclude that the attack was most likely motivated by anti-Shia sentiment. On the other hand, the violent history of rivalry between Shia factions and the unexplained circumstances of these attacks has led others to conclude that the attack was most likely carried out by supporters of a rival Shia leader, possibly hardliner Muqtada al-Sadr.
On August 30, 2003, Iraqi authorities arrested four people in connection with the bombing: two former members of the Ba'ath Party from Basra, and two non-Iraqi Arabs from the Salafi sect (a Sunni sect).
According to U.S. and Iraqi officials, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responsible for Hakim's assassination. They claim that Abu Omar al-Kurdi, a top Zarqawi bombmaker who was captured in January 2005, confessed to carrying out this bombing. They also cite Zarqawi's praising of the assassination in several audiotapes. Some sources even state that Zarqawi's father-in-law was the suicide bomber who detonated the bomb. [1]
