Blast hits key Iraq Shia shrine

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The destroyed Shiite Imam al-Askari shrine in the restive city of Samarra, north of Baghdad Wednesday.

SAMARRA, Iraq, June 13 (AFP): Two minarets of a revered Shiite shrine in the northern town of Samarra collapsed Wednesday after being blown up within minutes of each other, witnesses and a top Shiite official said.
The tall structures came down around 9:00 am (0500 GMT), according to an AFP correspondent who reached the site shortly after the blasts.
Sheikh Saleh al-Haidiri, head of the Shiite endowment administrative body responsible for shrines in Iraq, said insurgents were behind the blasts.
"It is a terrorist attack ... the second one against the shrine," Haidiri said in Baghdad.
"It is a terrorist attack aimed at sparking sectarian violence."
On February 22, 2006, alleged Al-Qaeda militants bombed the shrine in an attack which triggered brutal nationwide Shiite and Sunni sectarian clashes that are still continuing.
A witness in the town said the two minarets fell within minutes of each other.
"I was near the shrine when I heard big explosions that sent a thick cloud of dust in the sky covering the entire area," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"I quickly ran to the street from where I could see the shrine clearly. I saw one of the minarets was down. Seven minutes later as I was watching the shrine, another explosion occurred and the second minaret came crumbling down."
The area has been heavily fortified since last year's attack, but according to the witness there had been a row between the security forces Tuesday.
"Yesterday,a new batch of security force came from Baghdad to take over the security of the shrine from the previous force and there was a row between the two groups which saw some exchange of fire too," he said.
"Finally, the new force did take up the security. The previous force was local from the town of Tikrit."