Curfew imposed after attack on Sunni shrine

Story Highlights

• U.S. defense secretary arrives in Iraq on unannounced visit, AP reports
• Iraqi forces detained after blast at Sunni mosque; curfew imposed on region
• Shrine visitors asked to film mosque but planted bombs instead, army says
• Fears of sectarian fighting after Wednesday's attack on Shiite Golden Dome

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Attackers bombed a Sunni Muslim shrine Friday near the mostly Shiite city of Basra, two days after blasts destroyed towers at the revered Golden Dome Shiite mosque in Samarra.

As fears rise that Wednesday's Samarra attack might increase deadly sectarian violence, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned Friday's bombing and slapped an indefinite curfew on Basra province that began at 4 p.m.

Curfews were imposed in several Iraqi regions after the Samarra blasts, and authorities told CNN a curfew remains in place Friday in Baghdad. (Watch what's left of the Samarra mosque's minarets and how U.S. forces blame the attack on al Qaeda )

Friday's bombing of the Sunni Talha Ibn Obeidallah mosque in Zubeir, west of Basra, resulted in the arrest of a number of Iraqi security force members, a Basra security official said.

Two blasts badly damaged the mosque's structure about 6 a.m., according to Iraqi Brig. Gen. Mohammed Hammadi al-Mousawi.

Iraqi soldiers are in charge of protecting holy sites in Zubeir, he said.

The attack occurred after visitors to the shrine said they wanted to film the mosque but planted bombs instead, according to the general.

As a result, several Iraqi security forces have been detained in an investigation of the bombing.

Mohammed al-Obaidi, head of the Basra Provincial Council, told CNN that a committee has been formed to investigate all incidents that took place in Basra after the Samarra bombing.

Like Friday's attack, the U.S. military has called Wednesday's bombing at Samarra's Al-Askariya Mosque an inside job and at least 13 security force officials have been detained. (Watch the aftermath of the blast )

More than 650 Iraqi security force troops and a coalition advisory team have been deployed near the mosque to bolster security.

A similar attack in 2006 smashed the mosque's famous gilded dome and unleashed a wave of deadly Shiite-Sunni fighting that continues to plague Iraq. (Interactive: More on why the mosque is revered)

In the wake of the Samarra blasts, attackers struck nine Sunni mosques in Baghdad and south of the Iraqi capital, police said Thursday.

Baghdad authorities also reported finding 25 bodies.

Four people died in sectarian fighting in Basra.

Thousands of angry Shiites on Thursday protested the bombing in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood.

The protesters carried banners, Iraqi flags and pictures of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his father. Al-Sadr has called for three days of mourning to mark the destruction of the two minarets at the Al-Askariya shrine.

"We demand of our Sunni brothers help us rebuild Askariya Shrine," one of the banners said.

Surprise visit by U.S. defense chief

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad on Friday on an unannounced visit, according to The Associated Press.

Gates spoke with reporters en route and expressed support for the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, AP reported. "I have every confidence in Gen. Petraeus and in his ability and willingness to call it as he sees it," Gates told AP.

When asked if Petraeus was offering a realistic view of the situation in Iraq as increased numbers of U.S. forces battle insurgents, Gates told AP, "It's a very mixed picture."

Alleged terrorist leader killed

Coalition troops in northern Iraq killed the chief of five terrorist cells on Friday and forces arrested 16 people in raids elsewhere, the U.S. military said.

The alleged terrorist leader, Izz al-Din, also known as Abu Ahmad, was killed by troops in Mosul. In addition to leading five terrorist cells in Mosul, the military said al-Din "was responsible for directing attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces."

One person was detained in Mosul. Other arrests were made in Baghdad, where a car bomb network was targeted, and in the Karma area of Anbar province,

Also, the Iraqi Interior Ministry in Baghdad said police found five slain bodies in the capital on Thursday, bringing the number of such corpses discovered in the capital this month to 319.

The killings are thought to be the result of sectarian violence and the victims are usually found shot, tortured, and bound.

U.S. pilot dies in F-16 crash

A U.S. Air Force F-16 crashed early Friday in what the Air Force is calling an accident.

The aircraft, deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base, crashed in Iraq at 12:27 a.m., the Air Force said. Balad Air Base is north of Baghdad.

One crew member was aboard the plane, which "was flying on a close air support mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom." Pentagon sources told CNN the pilot died in the crash.

On Thursday, three U.S. soldiers were killed and one was wounded in Kirkuk province following an explosion near their vehicle during operations there, a military statement released Friday said.

All were members of the Army's Task Force Lightning.

Earlier, the U.S. military reported the death of a fourth Task Force Lightning solider, also on Thursday, from small arms fire in Diyala province, according to the military.

A fifth Task Force Lightning soldier died Wednesday in a noncombat related incident, the military also reported Friday.

The death brings to 3,513 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war began. Seven civilians working for the Defense Department also have died in the war.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

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