[Note: Pictures of the Shrine's plaza and the aftermath of the bombing are available at www.cpt.org/gallery/view_album.php]

On March 2, 2004 CPTers Jane MacKay Wright, LeAnne Clausen, Matthew Chandler and Sheila Provencher documented two violent attacks on Shi'a pilgrims at the Kadhum shrine in the Kadhamiya quarter of Baghdad.  Team members were stationed near the shrine at the invitation of shrine officials after they received threats against the local Shi'a community.


The first attack occurred at 5:15a.m., when gunmen opened fire on an Iraq Police vehicle stationed outside the shrine, as the height of the celebration was about to commence. The second attack, occurring at 10a.m., included three bombs at a side entrance to the shrine and inside the large courtyard, where more than ten thousand Shiite pilgrims had gathered. Shrine officials told the CPTers they believe the bombs were on timers and planted during the morning attack while security guards' attention was diverted from the gates.

The first blast of the 10 a.m. attack shattered the window of the team's hotel room.  Moving to the roof during the following explosions, they began filming and photographing the side gate where most of the damage could be seen.  A three-story spray of blood marred the wall of the shrine to the left of the door. Badly injured pilgrims screaming for assistance lay on the ground with corpses.

Bystanders helped Red Crescent ambulance workers collect body parts and carry the dead and wounded away from the scene.  Iraqi police cleared the surrounding plaza and streets. Shrine security guards moved quickly to empty the shrine interior of pilgrims, fearing more bombs had been set.

Iraqis told the team that nobody was expecting the second attack.  The festival had returned to normal and people felt a sense of relief that no one was seriously injured in the morning attack.

Iraqi police and shrine security guards had the situation under control within twenty minutes. However, according to shrine officials, an unauthorized person had earlier seized the shrine's loudspeaker in the chaotic aftermath and announced that "the Americans and the Jewish" were responsible for the attacks.  The speaker also called on the crowd to declare war on the "enemies of Islam."

Shortly afterwards, a convoy of US army vehicles--including tanks, humvees, and two medic vehicles--drove toward the shrine's main entrance and blocked the road.  Some of the soldiers got out of their vehicles and began talking to bystanders.  Shrine security guards yelled at them to get back into their vehicles.  One guard, running with his machine gun pointing downwards, gestured frantically to the soldiers to turn around and leave immediately.

Angered by the soldiers' presence, a crowd of pilgrims ran toward the convoy.  They first threw their shoes at the convoy, a gesture of extreme outrage in Arab culture. U.S. soldiers responded by firing into the air. Men in the crowd then began throwing furniture, rocks, and other debris. The convoy continued to fire.  One man heaved a cinder block through the window of a Humvee.  As the convoy eventually retreated, the crowd followed them back towards the nearby military base.

"It was frightening," said Sheila Provencher of South Bend, IN. "They [U.S. soldiers] were probably just coming to try to help and didn't realize how much danger they were in. I was just praying that both they and the crowd would stay calm so there wouldn't be a massacre."

Shrine officials and officials at the U.S. base had negotiated security arrangements prior to the pilgrimage and U.S. officials agreed not to enter the immediate area of the shrine.  Base officials also promised that they would have equipment at the perimeter of the neighborhood that would detect explosives and other weaponry.

When Sayyid Ali Mussawi al Waahd, overseer of the shrine, learned of the unauthorized announcement and the soldiers' arrival, he immediately sent word to the base commander to withdraw the troops for their own safety.  He also sent his own message to be read on the loudspeaker, appealing for calm and forbidding revenge attacks on soldiers, police, or other authorities. U.S. base officials later presented a letter of thanks to al Waahd for alerting them to the danger to their troops.

Al Waahd later expressed dismay that the public address system was used to deliver a hateful message and concern that more extreme factions within the community were using the tragedy to incite and engage in violence.

To prevent further violence, security officials joined hands creating a human chain to keep the crowd away from the shrine's entrance.  Workers cleaned the plaza, and washed the blood off the walls using a fire truck.
Blood donors lined up at the Red Crescent hospital tent located at the edge of the plaza. U.S. helicopters continued to fly low over the shrine area for several hours. Al-Waahd reported that one of the suspected bombers was caught and is being held under guard in hospital.


A half hour before the Kadhum Shrine bombing, a Shia shrine in the holy city of Kerbalah (90 miles south of Baghdad) was also attacked.  Millions of Shiite pilgrims from all over the Muslim world were gathered there. More than one hundred were killed. Additional attacks took place against Shiite pilgrims in Iran and Pakistan.

The next day, CPT made a copy of their video for shrine officials to aid their investigation.  Team members also provided additional accompaniment to shrine officials at their request, fearing additional attacks through the end of the festival. Chandler and Clausen donated blood at a local blood bank. Al Waajd said thirty-eight pilgrims were confirmed dead at the Kadham attack, and there were several more unidentified bodies. Five of the known dead were children.

Four days of national mourning were officially declared for the victims. On Thursday, at CPT Iraq's Lenten vigil for detainee justice, CPTers hung a black banner offering condolences for the victims of the attacks and calling for an end to violence in Iraq.


Team members have been invited to monitor major pilgrimages at Kadhum and in Kerbala since the August assassination of Ayatollah al Hakim in Najaf which killed forty  pilgrims.

Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.  This pilgrimage, as with other Shi'a religious festivals, was forbidden by the Saddam regime. The bombings occurred on the last day of a Shi'a religious observance that has been suppressed in Iraq for thirty-five years.

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Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.
Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax: 773-277-0291; e-mail: guest.903627 (at) MennoLink.org.

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