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Baghdad Shias mourn bomb victims | Baghdad Shias mourn bomb victims |
(40 minutes later) | |
Funerals are being held in Iraq for victims of Thursday's bomb attacks in Baghdad's Shia Sadr City district that left more than 200 people dead. | |
In the latest violence, gunmen attacked four mosques in a Sunni area of Baghdad, the interior ministry said. | |
The attacks happened despite a city-wide curfew and appeals for calm. | |
A key Shia group blamed US troops for the violence in Sadr City, saying it will quit the government if PM Nouri Maliki meets President Bush as planned. | |
The withdrawal of the group headed by radical Shia cleric air Moqtada Sadr would be a major blow to an already unstable government, the BBC's Andy Gallacher in Baghdad says. | |
href="/1/hi/in_pictures/6180342.stm" class="">In pictures: Iraq funerals href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/4268904.stm" class="">Who are the armed groups? href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=4808&edition=1" class="">Send us your comments Baghdad is under an indefinite curfew, but fresh violence broke out on Friday. | |
Gunmen attacked four mosques in a Sunni area in the Hurriya neighbourhood, interior ministry officials said. | |
The most serious damage happened soon after Friday prayers when a mosque was burned down. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded inside another, while two others were sprayed with bullets fired from AK-47 assault rifles. | |
There have so far been no official reports of casualties. | |
The only people and vehicles officially allowed on the streets were those taking part in the funeral processions. | The only people and vehicles officially allowed on the streets were those taking part in the funeral processions. |
Mourners cried as they walked beside vehicles taking coffins south to Najaf, the traditional burial place for Shias, which is 160km (100 miles) south of Baghdad. | Mourners cried as they walked beside vehicles taking coffins south to Najaf, the traditional burial place for Shias, which is 160km (100 miles) south of Baghdad. |
Thousands of men, women and children beat their chests, chanted and cried as they accompanied the processions. | Thousands of men, women and children beat their chests, chanted and cried as they accompanied the processions. |
Bodies have been arriving in Najaf to be buried in the city's ancient cemetery. | |
Show of unity | Show of unity |
Thursday's multiple car bomb attacks in Sadr City - in which 250 people were also wounded - were the deadliest in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003. | Thursday's multiple car bomb attacks in Sadr City - in which 250 people were also wounded - were the deadliest in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003. |
Leaders of Iraq's Shia, Sunni and Kurdish communities appealed for calm in a show of unity. | |
BLOODIEST DAYS OF VIOLENCE 23 Nov 2006 - 202 deadWave of car bomb and mortar blasts strike Sadr City in Baghdad7 April 2006 - 85 deadTriple suicide bombing at Shia Buratha mosque in Baghdad5 Jan 2006 - 110 deadSuicide bombers hit Karbala shrine and police recruiting station in Ramadi14 Sept 2005 - 182 deadSuicide car bomber targets Baghdad labourers in worst of a series of bombs28 Feb 2005 - 114 deadSuicide car bomb hits government jobseekers in Hilla2 March 2004 - 140 deadSuicide bombers attack Shia festival-goers in Karbala and Baghdad1 Feb 2004 - 105 deadTwin attacks on Kurdish parties' offices in Irbil | BLOODIEST DAYS OF VIOLENCE 23 Nov 2006 - 202 deadWave of car bomb and mortar blasts strike Sadr City in Baghdad7 April 2006 - 85 deadTriple suicide bombing at Shia Buratha mosque in Baghdad5 Jan 2006 - 110 deadSuicide bombers hit Karbala shrine and police recruiting station in Ramadi14 Sept 2005 - 182 deadSuicide car bomber targets Baghdad labourers in worst of a series of bombs28 Feb 2005 - 114 deadSuicide car bomb hits government jobseekers in Hilla2 March 2004 - 140 deadSuicide bombers attack Shia festival-goers in Karbala and Baghdad1 Feb 2004 - 105 deadTwin attacks on Kurdish parties' offices in Irbil |
Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, urged people "not to react illegally and maintain self-restraint", one of his officials said. | Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, urged people "not to react illegally and maintain self-restraint", one of his officials said. |
The prime minister also called on Iraqis not to resort to violence. | The prime minister also called on Iraqis not to resort to violence. |
"We denounce sectarian practices that aim to destroy the unity of the nation," Mr Maliki said in a television broadcast on Thursday. | "We denounce sectarian practices that aim to destroy the unity of the nation," Mr Maliki said in a television broadcast on Thursday. |
Sadr City is largely controlled by the Mehdi Army, the best-known of the Shia Iraqi militias, which has been accused of carrying out many sectarian attacks. | Sadr City is largely controlled by the Mehdi Army, the best-known of the Shia Iraqi militias, which has been accused of carrying out many sectarian attacks. |
Thursday's bombings could have a deep political impact with the group led by Mr Sadr threatening to quit the unity government. | |
"We will withdraw from the government and parliament if the prime minister meets Bush," the group, which blames US-led forces for the violence, said on Friday. | |
The meeting is due to take place in Jordan next week. | |
Mr Sadr's followers hold six cabinet posts and have 30 members in the 275-seat parliament. | |
Elsewhere in Iraq, at least 22 people were killed by a suspected double suicide bombing in a market in the northern city of Talafar, police said. | |
Talafar, close to the Syrian border, was once a bastion for Sunni guerrillas, but has been held up by US forces in Iraq as a example of successful counter-insurgency operations. | Talafar, close to the Syrian border, was once a bastion for Sunni guerrillas, but has been held up by US forces in Iraq as a example of successful counter-insurgency operations. |