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Qahtaniyah bombings

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2007 Qahtaniyah bombings
Part of the Iraq War
LocationTil Ezer and Siba Sheikh Khidir, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
DateAugust 14, 2007 (UTC+3)
TargetYazidis
Attack type
Suicide truck bombs
Deaths796 (+4 bombers)
Injured1,562+
PerpetratorsUnknown, al-Qaeda suspected

The Qahtaniyah bombings occurred on August 14, 2007, when four coordinated suicide car bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi towns of Til Ezer (al-Qahtaniyah) and Siba Sheikh Khidir (al-Jazirah), in northern Iraq.

796 people were killed and at least 1,500 others were wounded,[1][2][3] making it the Iraq War's deadliest car bomb attack. It is also the third deadliest act of terrorism in world history, after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and the Camp Speicher massacre, also in Iraq.[4] No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Tensions and background

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See also: April 2007 Yazidi massacre

For several months leading up to the attack, tensions had been building up in the area, particularly between Yazidis and Sunni Muslims (both Arabs and Kurds). Some Yazidis living in the area received threatening letters calling them "infidels".[5] Leaflets were also distributed denouncing Yazidis as "anti-Islamic" and warning them that an attack was imminent.[6][7]

The attack was possibly connected with the murder of Du'a Khalil Aswad, a 17-year-old Yazidi girl, who was stoned to death by fellow Yazidis four months earlier. Aswad was believed to have wanted to convert in order to marry a Sunni.[8][9] Two weeks later, after a video of the stoning appeared on the Internet, Sunni gunmen[10] stopped minibuses filled with Yazidis; 23 Yazidi men were forced from a bus and shot dead.[11]

The Sinjar area, which has a mixed population of Yazidis, Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmen and Arabs, was scheduled to vote in a plebiscite on accession to the Kurdistan Region in December 2007. This caused hostility among the neighbouring Arab communities. A force of 600 Kurdish Peshmerga was subsequently deployed in the area, and ditches were dug around Yazidi villages to prevent further attacks.[12]

Details

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The bombings occurred at around 7:20 pm on August 14, 2007, when four co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi towns of Qahtaniyah and Jazeera (Siba Sheikh Khidir), near Mosul, Nineveh Governorate, northern Iraq. They targeted the Yazidis, a religious minority in Iraq,[13][14] using a fuel tanker and three cars. An Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said that two tons of explosives were used in the blasts, which crumbled buildings, trapping entire families beneath mud bricks and other wreckage as entire neighborhoods were flattened. Rescuers dug underneath the destroyed buildings by hand to search for remaining survivors.[15]

"Hospitals here are running out of medicine. The pharmacies are empty. We need food, medicine and water otherwise there will be an even greater catastrophe," said Abdul-Rahim al-Shimari, mayor of the Baaj district, which includes the devastated villages.[16]

There were 796 people killed and at least 1,562 more wounded.[1][2][3]

Responsibility

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No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani, accused Iraqi Sunni insurgents of the bombings, pointing at the history of Sunni violence against Yazidis. They were reported to have distributed leaflets denouncing Yazidis as "anti-Islamic".[17] Although the attacks carry al-Qaeda's signature of multiple simultaneous attacks, it is unclear why they would refrain from claiming responsibility for such a successful operation. "We're looking at Al-Qaeda as the prime suspect," said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a United States military spokesman.[18]

On September 3, 2007, the U.S. military reportedly killed the suspected mastermind of the bombings, Abu Mohammed al-Afri.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Report of the United States Commission on Religious Freedom on Iraq (PDF) (Report). December 2008. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Oehring, Otmar (2017). Christians and Yazidis in Iraq: Current Situation and Prospects. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. p. 15. ISBN 978-3-95721-351-8. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Atwan, Abdel Bari (2013). After Bin Laden: Al Qaeda, the Next Generation. The New Press. p. 215. ISBN 9781595588999.
  4. ^ "Worst terrorist strikes—worldwide". www.johnstonsarchive.net. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Raja Razek, "Iraqi officials: Truck bombings killed at least 500," CNN.com". Archived from the original on November 18, 2007.
  6. ^ "General Calls Attack on Yazidis 'Ethnic Cleansing'". NPR. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Minority targeted in Iraq bombings". 15 August 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2016 – via bbc.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Login". Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  9. ^ "How suicide bombings shattered Iraq – Secret Iraq Files – Al Jazeera English". Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  10. ^ Glanz, James (2007-08-15). "Death Toll in Iraq Bombings Rises to 250". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  11. ^ "Iraq: Amnesty International appalled by stoning to death of Yezidi girl and subsequent killings". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  12. ^ "Yazidis Live Among Reminders of Deadly Attack". NPR. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  13. ^ "Deadly Iraq sect attacks kill 200". 15 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2016 – via bbc.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Dozens killed in multiple suicide attacks in Iraq – CNN.com". CNN. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007.
  15. ^ "Iraqi Interior Ministry: 400 killed in suicide bombings in northern Iraq". Ynetnews. 16 August 2007. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Shiites, Kurds form alliance; 4 Iraqi kids found in rubble of bombed area - USATODAY.com". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2008-05-27. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  17. ^ "Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  18. ^ "Al-Qaeda blamed for Yazidi carnage". Archived from the original on 1 November 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  19. ^ "AFP: Qaeda militant behind deadliest Iraq attack killed: US". Archived from the original on November 24, 2011.
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