지난 22일, 시아파 회교도들의 최대 성지 가운데 하나인 사마라의 아스카리야 회교사원이 폭파된 이후, 수십명이 살해됐으며, 숨진 이들의 대부분은 수니파 아랍인들인 것으로 알려졌습니다.
이라크 당국은, 사원폭파 사건에 따라 종파간 폭력사태가 확산될 것을 우려해, 수도 바그다드 등 여러 도시의 통행금지 시간을 연장했다고 발혔습니다. 경찰은, 바그다드 시내와 주변지역에서 50여구의 시신을 발견했으며, 이들의 대부분은 지난밤에 살해됐다고 말했습니다.
두바이의 알 아라비야 텔레비전 방송 소속의 언론인 세명도 사마라 인근에서 총격을 당해 숨진 채 발견됐습니다. 이라크 남부 바스라에서는 경찰복장의 무장괴한들이 교도소에 수감중인 수니파 열한명을 살했습니다. 이라크 경찰은 대부분이 회교 시아파들입니다.
(영문)
Scores of Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, have been killed since Wednesday's bombing of the Askariya mosque in Samarra - one of the holiest sites of Shi'ite Islam. Authorities have extended curfew hours in Baghdad and several other cities amid fears of widespread sectarian violence in the aftermath of the mosque attack.
Police say they have found more than 50 bodies in and around Baghdad, most of whom were killed overnight. Three journalists working for the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television network were found fatally shot near Samarra. In the southern city of Basra, gunmen dressed in police uniforms forced 11 Sunni detainees from a prison (late Wednesday), then fatally shot them.
Shi'ites dominate Iraq's police force. Dozens of Sunni mosques were also attacked, despite appeals for calm from top Iraqi government officials and senior clerics. A major Sunni political alliance (the Iraqi Accordance Front) says unless the government apologizes for attacks on Sunni mosques, it will not attend an all-party meeting President Halal Talabani has called to discuss the situation.
Separately, at least 12 people, including eight Iraqi soldiers, were killed in a roadside bomb blast today (Thursday) in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad. ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR WEB The Askariya shrine draws pilgrims from around the world. It contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th Shi'ite imams, Ali al-Hadi and his son, Hassan al-Askari, who died in 874.
The shrine was built at the site where the 12th Shi'ite imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared. He is called the hidden imam and is the son and grandson of the two imams buried at Askariya.