--- title: ISIS Attacked Samarra Shrine, Iraqi Ambassador Says description: Baghdad's envoy to Washington has confirmed that the perimeter of Samarra's al-Askari mosque in Iraq was targeted by Sunni militants canonical: https://time.com/2945879/iraq-isis-shrine-samarra/ author: Michael Crowley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-01T16:11:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:55:21.848Z article:section: Politics og:title: ISIS Attacked Samarra Shrine, Iraqi Ambassador Says og:description: Baghdad's envoy to Washington has confirmed that the perimeter of Samarra's al-Askari mosque in Iraq was targeted by Sunni militants og:url: https://time.com/2945879/iraq-isis-shrine-samarra/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7601263c404235dc/6986990855a8592f79a81845/samara-shrine-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The rebuilt dome and minarets of Samarra Shiite shrine seen in 2009. The shrine was bombed in 2006 in an attack which unleashed a wave of sectarian bloodletting that claimed tens of thousands of lives. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ISIS Attacked Samarra Shrine, Iraqi Ambassador Says twitter:description: Baghdad's envoy to Washington has confirmed that the perimeter of Samarra's al-Askari mosque in Iraq was targeted by Sunni militants twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7601263c404235dc/6986990855a8592f79a81845/samara-shrine-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Iraqi Ambassador Confirms ISIS Attack on Shi'ite Shrine > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Michael Crowley](https://time.com/author/michael-crowley/) ## Michael Crowley Jul 1, 2014 4:11 PM UTC  The rebuilt dome and minarets of Samarra Shiite shrine seen in 2009. The rebuilt dome and minarets of Samarra Shiite shrine seen in 2009. AFP/Getty Images by [Michael Crowley](https://time.com/author/michael-crowley/) ## Michael Crowley Jul 1, 2014 4:11 PM UTC Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) struck the perimeter of one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest shrines in Iraq in a mortar attack yesterday, the country’s ambassador to the United States confirmed Tuesday. “They hit the outer perimeter of the shrine and some people were killed,” the ambassador, Lukman Faily, said in response to a question from TIME about Samarra’s al-Askari mosque, where a 2006 attack was a [catalyst for nationwide sectarian civil war](http://time.com/2920692/iraq-isis-samarra-al-askari-mosque/). U.S. and Iraqi officials are extremely worried that a successful ISIS attack on the shrine, commonly known as the Golden Dome mosque, could re-inflame sectarian rage. Faily did not say whether the shrine’s famous golden dome, which was blown up by Sunni jihadists in 2006 and later rebuilt, was damaged as unconfirmed reports [suggest](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/world/middleeast/sunni-extremists-in-iraq-fire-mortars-into-shiite-shrine.html). But he insisted that ISIS, which reportedly overran much of Samarra in mid-June, no longer holds territory within the city. “It was a hit-and-run situation,” he said. The shrine itself is heavily guarded by Iraqi forces, along with foreign fighters who consider it a sacred duty to defend Iraq’s holy sites from Sunni vandals. One of those [reportedly killed](http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-258823-First-ever-Pakistani-dies-while-defending-holy-shrine-in-Samarra) in fighting at the shrine last month, for instance, was Pakistani man studying in Iraq who volunteered for its defense. He is now [memorialized](https://twitter.com/shianews313/status/482619524324151297/photo/1) as a Shi’ite martyr. Six more people are reported to have been killed by Monday’s mortar attack. Samarra is about 60 miles north of Baghdad and 30 miles south of Tikrit, the site of intense fighting between Iraqi government forces and ISIS fighters who seized the city, where former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was born, earlier this month. Faily said that ISIS no longer controls central Tikrit, but said countless buildings, including homes and places of worship, had been booby-trapped and would take time to clear. Speaking before an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Faily also said it is “likely” that Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will retain his job. He added: “Is it certain? Nothing is certain.” Faily said Iraq’s [purchase](http://time.com/2942570/iraq-warplanes-when-subsonic-is-faster-than-supersonic/) of Russian aircraft, amid complaints from Baghdad about slow delivery of American F-16s, isn’t a sign of a fraying alliance with Washington. “Our countries are forever tied together because of the lives we lost and the treasure we spent in the past decade in the fight against terrorism,” he said. For more on the Golden Dome shrine and what its fate could mean for Iraq, click [here](http://time.com/2920692/iraq-isis-samarra-al-askari-mosque/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2945879/iraq-isis-shrine-samarra/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2945879/iraq-isis-shrine-samarra/"},"headline":"Iraqi Ambassador Confirms ISIS Attack on Shi'ite Shrine","datePublished":"2014-07-01T16:11:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:55:21.848Z","description":"Baghdad's envoy to Washington has confirmed that the perimeter of Samarra's al-Askari mosque in Iraq was targeted by Sunni militants","url":"https://time.com/2945879/iraq-isis-shrine-samarra/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Iraq","crisis"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7601263c404235dc/6986990855a8592f79a81845/samara-shrine-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Crowley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-crowley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7601263c404235dc/6986990855a8592f79a81845/samara-shrine-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The rebuilt dome and minarets of Samarra Shiite shrine seen in 2009. 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