Kufa (Iraq): An explosion today (June 7, 2004) rocked the Great Mosque in Kufa, where Shiite rebel leader Moqtada Sadr gives the sermon at the main weekly Muslim prayers, witnesses and the US military said.

At least nine people were wounded, said a medic from the nearby Furat al-Wasat hospital, adding that more injured were being brought in.

Some of the wounded were inside the mosque at the time of the explosion, while others were outside, the medic said.

"There was an explosion at the Great Mosque at around 13:00 hours IST. I heard the sound of a rocket land in the ammunition storage inside the mosque," said Abu Ahmed, a member of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, outside the compound.

A statement by the US military confirmed that an explosion had taken place and that part of the mosque was on fire.

Ambulances sped to the scene to rescue the wounded from the shrine, built on the hallowed ground where one of the founders of the Shiite faith, Ali, was assassinated in 661 AD.

There were no immediate reports of any dead from the blast and ensuing fire but police said they could not rule out the possibility of bodies still lying undiscovered inside the mosque.