ISCHRO Index: ahusseini02032007eart (Public)

2 March 2007

Last week marked the passing of one year since the bombing of the Askriyyah Shrine in Samarra on the 22^nd of February.  The twelve hundred year old building holding the

shrines of Imam al Hadi and Imam al Askari–the tenth and eleventh imams and the descendents of Prophet Mohammad–is one of the most respected and holiest sites for Shiites.  The belligerent bombing of the shrine caused the complete destruction of the golden dome which further resulted in destroying the shrine underneath.  Another shrine was also attacked two days later.  The shrine containing the tomb of Salman Farsi, a revered companion of the Prophet Mohammad, was bombarded with rockets.