April 07, 2004
Marines attack mosque with rockets
40 dead in this attack. Since Sunday, 30 Americans and over 150 Iraqis have been klilled.
U.S. Marines in a fierce battle for this Sunni Muslim stronghold fired rockets that destroyed part of a wall surrounding a mosque compound filled with worshippers Wednesday, and witnesses said as many as 40 people were killed. Shiite-inspired violence spread to key cities in Iraq.Posted by Norwood at April 7, 2004 04:42 PMThe fighting in Fallujah and neighboring Ramadi, where commanders confirmed 12 Marines were killed late Tuesday, was part of an intensified uprising involving both Sunni and Shiites that now stretched from Kirkuk in the north to the far south. It was the heaviest fighting since Baghdad fell a year ago this week.
An Associated Press reporter in Fallujah saw cars ferrying the dead and wounded from the Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque. Witnesses said a helicopter fired three missiles into the compound, destroying part of a wall surrounding the mosque but not damaging the main building.
The strike came as worshippers had gathered for afternoon prayers, witnesses said. Temporary hospitals were set up in private homes to treat the wounded and prepare the dead for burial.
Until the mosque attack, reports had at least 30 Americans and more than 150 Iraqis dead in fighting for the Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi and Fallujah since Sunday.
