The famous, golden-domed al-Askari mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam, is badly damaged by two men in a dawn attack on February 22. The bombing, thought to be perpetrated by followers of al-Qaeda in Iraq, does not injure anyone, but it is followed by immediate reprisal raids on Sunni mosques and sparks a deadly series of sectarian counter attacks, including many grisly executions. Despite a round-the-clock curfew imposed for a few days in Baghdad, more than 1300 Iraqis die.