Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque
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The Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque came to worldwide attention when militants holed up inside it directed small-arms fire and a rocket at US Marines. US forces returned fire, according to a field-grade Marine officer.
A brigadier general acknowledged that as a religious building, the mosque would ordinarily have protection under the Geneva Convention, but added that the attacks from inside the building caused it to lose its status. It was initially claimed that some 40 rebels had been killed in the strike, but it was later stated that no bodies were actually found at the scene.