Ten die in Iraqi mosque blast

A massive explosion killed ten Iraqis and injured four others in a mosque in the volatile town of Fallujah.

Locals said last night’s blast was caused by a US missile or bomb strike.

But American soldiers at the scene disputed that account, saying it was probably caused when explosives hidden at the site went off.

Witnesses said the blast took place in a small breeze block building in the courtyard of the al-Hassan mosque. The explosion blew out the walls and took down the roof of the structure.

US Colonel Guy Shields said soldiers “saw the explosion, went to investigate and when they got there the building’s walls and ceilings had been destroyed.”

An eyewitness said that after the evening prayer, he heard aircraft hovering overhead and then heard the sound of the explosion.

Today a dozen Iraqis remained, sifting through the rubble for pieces of metal they said proved the damage was caused by an American attack.

“These are pieces of a missile,” said Aqeel Ibrahim Ali, 26, who was standing on a concrete slab overlooking the destruction, holding out a box filled with metal shards. ”An airplane shot a missile.”

But US Sergeant Thomas McMurtry, said there was no evidence the explosion was caused by a US attack.

“Whatever blew up was just sitting inside there. There is no evidence that it was anything else but a ground based explosive.

Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, has been a hotbed of anti-American activity and scene of several confrontations between US troops and insurgents.

In and around Baghdad today, rocket-propelled grenades slammed into US military vehicles in two attacks, injuring at least six soldiers.

Armed men travelling in a vehicle in the Mustansiryah disrict of central Baghdad fired an RPG at a US military vehicle, destroying it and causing casualties.

One witness, 19-year-old Ali Ibrahim Shakir, said he saw two US soldiers being evacuated onto stretchers. He said he could not tell if the soldiers had been hurt or killed.

A Mercedes travelling alongside the US vehicle was also hit, wounding the Iraqi civilian who was driving it.

The US military reported an attack in Baghdad that injured three soldiers. It was not immediately clear if the attack they were referring to was the one in Mustansiryah.

Another RPG slammed into a US truck on a road in the town of Mahmudiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad.

Army spokeswoman Lieutenant Gabrielle Turnbull said that attack injured three American military policemen.