In Iraq, on February 22, 2006, “a powerful bomb shattered the golden dome of one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, the Askariya shrine in the city of Samarra, some sixty miles north of Baghdad. The explosion, believed to be the work of Al Qaeda in Iraq, ignited a nationwide wave of sectarian violence. In retaliation, enraged Shiite militia members aimed rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at Sunni mosques as Iraqi army soldiers stood helplessly by. By the end of the day, mobs had struck or destroyed twenty-seven Sunni mosques in Baghdad and killed three imams and kidnapped a fourth.”
– Elisabeth Bumiller, Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Page 282