The al-Askari shrine's golden dome stood for over a thousand years before a single bombing destroyed it in minutes, and the aftermath reshaped Iraq's sectarian conflict.
The 2006 bombing
On 22 February 2006, bombs planted by al-Qaeda in Iraq destroyed the shrine's golden dome, one of the most visually iconic structures in Shia Islam. The attack triggered a sharp escalation in sectarian violence across Iraq, with reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques and communities following in its wake, making the bombing a widely cited turning point in the country's post-2003 sectarian conflict rather than an isolated act of vandalism.
A second attack on the minarets
In June 2007, a further bombing destroyed the shrine's two minarets, which had survived the initial attack, compounding the damage and again drawing international condemnation. Iraqi and international efforts subsequently funded reconstruction of the dome and minarets, restoring the shrine's exterior appearance over the following years.
Tied to belief in the hidden Imam
The shrine's location is also associated in Twelver Shia tradition with the beginning of the occultation of the twelfth Imam, believed to remain hidden until his eventual return, which is part of why an attack on this specific building carried theological as well as political weight for Shia communities well beyond Iraq.