--- 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: 2026-10-01T08:57:42.491Z 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: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3c359114-7e0d-4f00-be55-be5726ebb263&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch: The Site of The Shrine [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: The Site of The Shrine](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/M50CnCET.m3u8) (2:38)  _Published 2014-07-01. Thousands in the holy city of Karbala vow to stop ISIS and protect their shrines._ by [Michael Crowley](https://time.com/author/michael-crowley/) ## Michael Crowley Jul 1, 2014 4:11 PM UTC Thousands in the holy city of Karbala vow to stop ISIS and protect their shrines. 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/). ## Transcript In the early 1800, an army of Wahhabis, Sunni extremists, tried to destroy the holy Shia shrines in Karbala. The final resting place of one of Shia Isalm most revered Imans, Iman Husayn, and his half brother Abbas, they failed. Now more than two centuries later, ISIS, a terrorist group more extreme and merciless than Al Qaeda is bowing to level the holy sites in Karbala. The spokesman for the terrorist organization released an audio message, urging the group followers to keep marching, as he said that the battle is not yet raging. Saying that it would rage in Baghdad, and here in the holy city of Karbala with the aim to destroy these sacred Shea shrines. [ INAUDIBLE ]. Security has always been tight around the city, now bolstered by volunteers. Karbala governor, [ INAUDIBLE ] upwards of 35 thousand have come forward. [ FOREIGN ]. We have two camps in Karbala that can train 3, 000 to 4, 000 at a time, and their training is an unconventional urban warfare he says. We arrive at one of those camps in the desert. The volunteers on a mid- day break, from the searing sun. [ FOREIGN ]. We're trying to create a special force, [ UNKNOWN ] a computer engineer and volunteer himself says, an offensive force. Among those advising them are former members of the butter brigades, Iraqi's trained in Iran to fight Saddam's regime. We are also told of units, numbering in the thousands deployed in hidden locations throughout this harsh terrain, which now borders land ISIS declares as it's own. Just on the other side of the lake is Alumbar Province, Iraq's [ UNKNOWN ] heartland. ISIS has just renamed itself the Islamic state, and claimed Alumbar as part of it's Cali Fit. It's a declaration that enraged many Muslims, so in fear among many Iraqi's. For the last decade, 28 year- old Haptahapta Mejid, has had his money exchange stands, just outside the Karbala shrines. [ UNKNOWN ]. This place, even though we have security, we have good people, we don't feel safe he tells us. Everyone is on edge, people can't relax, Iraq doesn't deserve this. If ISIS succeeds in destroying these sacred shines, it could unleash a sectarian war, bloodier than anything Iraq or the region has seen in recent history. ```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":"2026-10-01T08:57:42.491Z","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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