IRAQI forces, backed by US soldiers, stormed one of the major Sunni Muslim mosques in Baghdad after Friday prayers, opening fire and killing at least three people, according to eyewitnesses. | That's different. Usually it's the True Believers (TM) storming around with guns after Friday prayers. |
 About 40 people were arrested during the raid at the Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's northwestern Azamiyah neighbourhood, witnesses said. Another five people were wounded. US troops were seen securing the outer perimeter of the area and sealing it off. Some American soldiers were also seen inside the mosque compound.| Hope they took their boots off... |
Witnesses heard explosions coming from inside the mosque, apparently from stun grenades. Inside the office of the imam, books and a computer were found scattered on the floor, and the furniture was turned upside down. | Was it like that when the soldiers went in...or after they left? |
At least 10 US armoured vehicles were parked in front of the mosque, along with two vehicles carrying about 40 Iraqi National Guards, witnesses said. Abu Hanifa mosque has long been associated with anti-American agitation and support for the former regime. Saddam Hussein was seen in the area as the city fell to American forces in April last year. US Marines fought a fierce gun battle with Saddam loyalists around the mosque on April 10, 2003, the day after the ousted ruler's statue was hauled down on Firdous Square. Yesterday, the Iraqi government warned that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered as "participating in terrorism". A number of them have been arrested, including several members of the Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars which spoke out against the US-led offensive against Fallujah. "The government is determined to pursue those who incite acts of violence. A number of mosques' clerics who have publicly called for taking the path of violence have been arrested and will be legally tried," said Allawi's spokesman, Thair al-Naqeeb. "Some mosque clerics incite people to kill the police and the National Guard ... They're considered participating in terrorism." |