Thousands of Shiite mourners attended funerals Monday as Iraqi authorities detained 50 suspects in connection with the Sunday explosion in the Shiite holy city of Najaf that killed at least 54 people and injured 142. Also Sunday in the nearby Shiite city of Karbala, at least 13 people were killed and 33 were wounded in another attack.
Authorities in Najaf banned cars from entering the downtown area that houses the Imam Ali shrine to prevent future bombings, Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said Monday. "Fifty people, some of them from Najaf and others from outside, have been detained. One person detained this morning is a citizen of an Arab country. They are all being interrogated," al-Zurufi said, according to the AP.
Asked if Sunday's bombing had targeted Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who lives several hundred yards from the site of the blast, al-Zurufi said, "We have had information for a long time that his eminence, Ayatollah al-Sistani, is a possible target but we are taking all measures to protect him."
Also Monday, a roadside bomb planted near Baghdad's airport destroyed a U.S. Army Humvee, the military said. One of the soldiers was injured.
Elsewhere, American soldiers detained 19 men Monday during a series of raids in the village of Siwash near Tikrit. The occupation troops confiscated AK-47 assault rifles and a machine gun during the raids, the military said.
