Curfews in place to prevent mosque attacks

Five US soldiers have died in Iraq, the US military announced today, a day after extremists fired shells into Baghdad’s Green Zone during a visit by the US State Department’s No. 2 official.

The prime minister imposed an indefinite curfew on Basra, Iraq’s second largest city and gateway to the Persian Gulf, starting at 4pm after bombers levelled a Sunni shrine just outside the city this morning.

A similar ban already in place in Baghdad was extended another day, until dawn Sunday, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Talha Bin al-Zubair shrine about 13 miles outside Basra last night, partially damaging the building, police said.

They returned this morning, planting bombs inside the structure and exploding it completely, police said. No injuries were reported.

Gen Ali al-Mussawi, a top Basra security official, said the bombers were disguised as cameramen who asked guards for permission to film inside the shrine.

Three of the US soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded near their vehicle yesterday during operations in Kirkuk province, in northern Iraq, the US military said in a statement.

Another soldier was wounded in the blast. A fourth soldier was killed by small arms fire the same day in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad, and another soldier died Wednesday in a non-combat related incident, which the military said it was investigating.