Holiest Shi’ite shrine damaged

The Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, the holiest Shi’ite site in Iraq, was damaged on Tuesday by rockets or mortars, witnesses said — a d...

The Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, the holiest Shi’ite site in Iraq, was damaged on Tuesday by rockets or mortars, witnesses said — a development likely to spark outrage among Iraq’s Shi’ite majority.

One of the entrances to the shrine was damaged in the attack. It was not clear who fired the missiles. US forces have been fighting Shi’ite militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr in Najaf and other Shi’ite areas. Ahmad Shebani, Sadr’s representative at the shrine, said five or six missiles had hit the building.

US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said US forces were not responsible for damaging the mosque. ‘‘The coalition forces had no involvement in the damage to the Imam Ali mosque,’’ he told a news briefing in Baghdad. Witnesses said three people had been wounded in the attack, none seriously. Sadr visited the shrine after the attack to personally inspect the damage, as crowds of supporters chanted.

Earlier this month, the vast gilded dome of the shrine was damaged in fighting. The US military and Sadr’s militiamen blamed each other for causing the damage.