Another blast at Shi’ite shrine, amid rising fears of civil war

Explosives packed into the wash area of a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Basra blew up on Sunday, causing minor injuries, police and witnesse...

Explosives packed into the wash area of a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Basra blew up on Sunday, causing minor injuries, police and witnesses said.

Police said they suspected three men wounded in the attack were planting the bomb when it exploded prematurely.

The blast at the Imam Ali mosque caused initial panic at a time of raging sectarian violence in Iraq, which has raised fears of a slide into civil war. It came shortly after firebrand Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr held a rally in Basra calling on Sunnis and Shi’ites to hold joint prayers on Friday. But the young anti-American cleric was several km away at the time.

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Meanwhile in Baghdad security forces kept a tight grip on Sunday as authorities banned vehicle traffic after a two-day curfew was imposed.

A bomb in a minibus in the town of Hilla, 30 kms south of the capital, left five injured today morning, ours after a police commando was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in nearby madain, officials said. —AFP & Reuters

The police said that Kumar, a resident of Turbhe MIDC in Navi Mumbai, was driving his concrete mixer truck when it collided with an SUV.

‘Unleashed aggressive dog to stop probe’: Sacked IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s mother booked

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The mother of a dismissed IAS officer, Manorama Khedkar, has been booked by the police for obstructing an investigation and aiding suspects involved in a road rage incident. The incident occurred on September 13 and involved two men who allegedly kidnapped a truck helper.

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