Curfew imposed after attack on Sunni shrine

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.

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.

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