Five civilians killed in blast Mosque bomb

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

BAQOUBA, Iraq -- A homemade bomb attached to a propane cylinder exploded on a busy street yesterday as worshippers streamed out of a Shi'ite mosque after midday prayers in the central town of Baqouba, killing five persons and wounding dozens of others, doctors and officials said.

In Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, some 300 U.S. soldiers swept through the city overnight, detaining 30 Iraqis -- including a dozen suspected insurgents -- in one of the biggest raids since the end of the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam.

In Baghdad yesterday, rockets struck a hotel used by Western contract workers, shattering windows but causing no casualties.

Attacks on Shi'ite and Sunni mosques have increased in recent weeks, raising tensions between the two communities as they compete for influence in post-Saddam Iraq.

The blast went off near the Sadiq Mohammed mosque in Baqouba, a religiously mixed city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad in an area dominated by Sunnis.

A police investigator said officers discovered a car bomb in front of another Shi'ite mosque 11/2 miles away and that it appeared to be a coordinated attack plan. The investigator said the car was rigged with three artillery shells and 330 pounds of TNT, but faulty wiring prevented it from going off.

The explosion outside the Sadiq Mohammed mosque was caused by a gas cylinder rigged with an explosive, U.S. officials said. Hospital officials and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, responsible for security in Baqouba, said five persons, including the bomber, were killed and 37 wounded.

There were conflicting reports about details of the attack. Master Sgt. Robert Cargie of the 4th Infantry Division said the attacker tried to gain entry to the mosque but was turned away, apparently by guards.

Businessman Raad Sadek, who built and owns the mosque, said his brother saw the cylinder leaning against the door of the mosque and, after becoming suspicious, moved it to the middle of the street, where there was a large crater.

In Tikrit, U.S. troops raided 20 homes and three shops, searching for 20 suspected guerrillas, in a raid launched hours after a Black Hawk medevac helicopter crashed Thursday near the town of Fallujah to the south, killing all nine soldiers aboard.

The troops detained 14 of the suspects on the list, along with 16 others connected to the wanted men.

U.S. soldiers jumped over courtyard walls and kicked open doors to homes, dragging males outside into the freezing cold night while women and children huddled in bedrooms inside. Other soldiers used sledge hammers to break padlocks off shopfront doors and search the premises.

Among the detained was a man suspected of planting and detonating a roadside bomb that killed Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, of Houston, on Oct. 1.

Troops also seized items involved in bomb making, computers and a handful of weapons, including several Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and a submachine gun.

In Baghdad yesterday, attackers used shoulder-fired rocket launchers against the Bourj al-Hayat hotel at 6 a.m., said hotel security chief Hamza Ali. Two rockets hit the hotel, and a third exploded in the empty hotel pool.

Gunmen on Thursday attacked a U.S. Army supply convoy outside Balad, 45 miles north of Baghdad, killing a contract truck driver and wounding two other contractors, the military said yesterday.