Clashes Erupt Near Mosque With Four Dead

Agencies

Published: April 20, 2007

Baghdad: Clashes have erupted near a mosque in western Baghdad before Friday prayers, witnesses and local media said.

Witness Basim Abu Ali told the Associated Press that US helicopter gunships and tanks fired on the Baiyaa mosque opened fire on "unarmed worshippers heading for prayers."

He said four people were killed and seven others hurt. Parts of the mosque were damaged, he said. Iraqi police and the US military could not confirm the incident.

State television also reported a "coalition jet fighter" bombed the Baiyaa mosque but gave no further details.The incident comes a day after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates made a surprise visit to Iraq to push President George W. Bush’s new anti-insurgency strategy.

The plan involves a joint US-Iraq security post where Iraqi and American soldiers will live and work together in efforts to stop the insurgency.

"I think that it's very important that they bend every effort to getting this legislation done as quickly as possible," he said.