Oh, the humiliation. The holy mosque in Kufa has blown up.

KUFA, Iraq - Explosions rocked the compound surrounding the Kufa mosque on Monday after ammunition used by fighters loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr apparently caught fire, witnesses and Shiite militia members said. At least nine people were hurt.

Flames and smoke rose above the building. Firefighters and ambulances raced to the site, where fighters in al-Sadr’s al-Madhi army had been holed up.

Riyadh Moussa, a militiaman who had been sleeping in compound, said he heard a “whoosh of a missile in the air” and a strong thud when a projectile hit the storage area.

“I’m sure it was the Americans who did it,” he said. “We have no other enemies.” [Except your own stupidity, Riyadh. —ed.]

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said no forces were near the mosque at the time of the blast. Iraqi police took small arms fire when they tried to approach to see what was going on, the U.S. military said. …

The U.S. Army agreed to a request from the local governor to keep U.S. troops away from the Kufa mosque, where al-Sadr preaches, to give Iraqi security forces a chance to ease tensions.

Al-Mahdi army members were gathering outside the mosques Monday, some armed with rifles, and stopped reporters from approaching the mosque.

But that doesn’t stop the reporters from mindlessly parroting the words of a “militiaman” accusing “Americans” of blowing up the mosque.