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| Iraq | |
| Iraq: Blast at Mosque in Fallujah Kills Five | |
| 2003-07-01 | |
| Fallujah: A massive explosion rocked a mosque in this restive Iraqi town, killing at least five Iraqi civilians and injuring four others. Iraqi civilians said the blast was caused by a missile or bomb strike, but American soldiers at the scene disputed that account, saying it was likely caused when explosives hidden at the site went off. Better put a call in to OSHA. The incident was likely to increase tension in the town, already the scene of several confrontations between U.S. soldiers and anti-American insurgents. Witnesses said the blast took place just before 11 p.m. Monday in a small cinderblock building in the courtyard of the mosque. The explosion blew out the walls and took down the ceiling of the structure. Big work accident! About a dozen Iraqis were gathered around the blast Tuesday morning, sifting through the rubble for pieces of metal they said proved the damage was caused by an American attack. ``These are pieces of a missile,'' said Aqeel Ibrahim Ali, 26, who was standing on a concrete slab overlooking the destruction, holding out a box filled with metal shards. ``An airplane shot a missile.'' Sure, Aqeel, you're a properly trained evidence technician now, I take it. But Sgt. Thomas McMurtry, a reservist with the 346th Tactical Psychological Operations Company, said there was no evidence the explosion was caused by a U.S. attack. ``They did it to themselves. Clearly, the physical evidence does not support that (a missile strike) in any way,'' he told The Associated Press. ``Whatever blew up was just sitting inside there. There is no evidence that it was anything else but a ground based explosive.'' McMurtry, a schoolteacher based in Dayton, Ohio said he is a former special forces engineer with munitions training, said that if the explosion had been caused by a bomb or missile, there would be evidence of shrapnel. He said U.S. army ordnance disposal personnel had scanned the wreckage and saw no evidence of a missile strike. No, don't believe the SF munitions engineer, believe Aqeel! It was unclear who the Iraqi victims were, or what they were doing at the mosque late Monday. Maybe Aqeel can call his cousin, the expert in forensic remains reconstruction.
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| Posted by:Steve White |