2006 Al-Askari Mosque Bombing

The 2006 al-Askari Mosque bombing occurred at the al-Askari Mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra, on February 22, 2006, at about 6:44 a.m. local time (0344 UTC). The attack on the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, is believed to have been caused by Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Although no injuries occurred in the blasts, the mosque was severely damaged.

The bombing was followed by retaliatory violence with over a hundred dead bodies being found the next day and well over 1,000 people killed in the days following the bombing – by some counts, over 1,000 on the first day alone.