Iraqi police say suspected al-Qaeda insurgents have destroyed two minarets of a revered mosque in the city of Samarra. An explosion rocked the Shi'ite shrine, located north-west of Baghdad, on Wednesday.
The mosque, which is one of the most holy sites in the country, was previously attacked last year, and has not undergone reconstruction. Revenge attacks against Sunni Arabs were launched in Baghdad after that incident. The Shi'ite Sadr movement has urged its supporters to exercise calm after this latest bombing.