WASHINGTON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The United States condemned Wednesday the bombing of the most revered Shiite shrine in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, and urged Iraqis to unite to fight against extremists.

    "Now is the time for all Iraqis to come together to defeat the extremists who offer nothing but death and destruction," national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said of the attack.

    Insurgents blew up two minarets of the Shiite shrine in Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, on Wednesday morning, raising fears of an escalation of the sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis in the war-torn country.