The bomb attack that destroyed the dome of one of the world's holiest Shi'ite shrines in Samarra has prompted reprisal attacks against 27 Sunni mosques, leaving six people dead.
Armed men broke into the Golden Mosque in Samarra this morning and detonated explosives destroying the shrine's celebrated golden dome.
The attack against the al-Askari Shrine, where Shi'ites believe their 12th Imam disappeared in the 9th century AD, triggered mass retaliatory violence.
Tens of thousands of angry Shi'ites took to the streets in several cities and towns across Iraq following the bombing.
In Baghdad, protestors killed three clerics and three worshippers in assaults on Sunni mosques. The White House has denounced the bombing and offered US assistance in hunting down those responsible.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and the most senior Shi'ite cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, have called for a week of mourning after the attack.
One of the main Sunni organisations has also condemned the attack on the Golden Mosque and said those who carried it out should be punished.
The remains of two of the 12 Shi'ite Imams are buried in the shrine: Imam Ali al-Hadi, who died in AD 868 and his son, the 11th Imam Hasan al-Askari, who died in AD 874.
The latest bloodshed comes as Shi'ite and Sunni political factions continue to bicker over the formation of a national unity government, amid fears that the current deadlock could lead the country into chaos.
Elsewhere, a roadside bomb exploded today near a primary school in al-Mashrugiya, 175km southeast of Baghdad, killing two children and a woman.
And two police officers were killed by gunmen in Baquba, 65km north of the capital.
