Naseer Al-Nahr, Asharq Al-Awsat

BAGHDAD, 10 December 2003 — Three bomb explosions — two of them suicide attacks — and the downing of a US helicopter marked a sharp rise in guerrilla activity in Iraq yesterday. At least three people were killed and dozens wounded.

A bomb ripped through a Sunni mosque in a largely Shiite area of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding one person. The blast, which gouged a gaping hole in the mosque nestled in Baghdad’s Hurriyya district, raised the specter of sectarian tension in the country.

As they searched through the wreckage, residents called the incident part of a pattern of intimidation. “We are pointing the finger of accusation at the Shiites for this act,” said Sheikh Ahmad Dabbash, who leads prayers at the damaged Ahbab Al-Mustafa mosque, and linked the blast to previous attacks on Sunni mosques in the capital.

The explosion, which happened about 7 a.m., shredded and scorched a car parked in the mosque’s courtyard, left behind pools of blood mingled with dust.

A local police commander speculated that attackers got inside the mosque compound in the early hours of the morning and left the bomb there under a car.

An association of Iraq’s Sunni clerics called the attacks part of a campaign against the community. “Sunni mosques and those who pray in them are being attacked... across Iraq by elements we know of, on a pretext we reject: that these are the supporters of the former regime,” the League of Muslim Clerics in Iraq said in a statement.

The biggest suicide bomb attacks was in Talafar, 380 km (235 miles) northwest of Baghdad, at 4:45 a.m., the military said. A car drove to the gate of the base. Guards at the gate and in a watchtower opened fire and moments later the vehicle blew up, leaving a large crater at the gate’s entryway.

Col. Michael Linnington, commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, said the car bomb was a suicide mission and that the attacker’s remains were “all over the compound.”

Maj. Trey Cate, spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division, said 59 soldiers were injured. “Eight soldiers were medically evacuated, of which four were sent to Baghdad,” Cate said. The other 51 soldiers were slightly injured by debris and flying glass, he said.

The early morning blast occurred when most soldiers were still in their barracks, and there was no traffic around the gate.

The US garrison apparently escaped more serious casualties because of the huge sand barriers and a cement wall in front of the base that bore the brunt of the explosion. Unmanned roadblocks also forced the assailant to drive slowly, giving enough time to guards to open fire.

Pieces of the attacker’s car were scattered hundreds of meters away from the site of the blast.

Later in the day, a man acting suspiciously walked toward the gates of a US base in Husseiniya, 25 km (15 miles) northeast of Baghdad, said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a US military spokeswoman. When military police guarding the gate opened fire, he activated an explosive device and blew himself up.

Also yesterday, ground fire forced a US reconnaissance helicopter to make an emergency landing, but the two-man crew walked away with minor injuries near the flashpoint town of Fallujah, a military spokesman said.

Witnesses reported seeing flames from the craft. “I heard an explosion then I saw a helicopter come down in flames in a field,” farmer Amd Muslah, aged 30, said.

A US army spokesman said: “At approximately 2:30 (1130 GMT) an OH-58 Delta Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter from the 82nd Airborne took fire south of Fallujah.

“The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing,” he said, but “the two pilots were able to walk away from the site with minimal injuries.”

Meanwhile, three US soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade died and one was injured when an embankment collapsed beneath their armored personnel carriers north of Baghdad. “The accident was not a result of hostile action,” Lt. Col. William Macdonald said.