Qahtaniyah bombings explained

2007 Qahtaniyah bombings
Partof:The Iraq War
Location:Til Ezer and Siba Sheikh Khidir, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
Target:Yazidis
Date:August 14, 2007
Timezone:UTC+3
Type:Suicide truck bombs
Fatalities:796 + 4 bombers
Injuries:1,562+
Perpetrators:Unknown

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

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

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.

Responsibility

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

Notes and References

  1. Report of the United States Commission on Religious Freedom on Iraq. December 2008. 12. August 12, 2019. June 25, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200625002629/https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/resources//iraq%20report%20final.pdf#page=20. live.
  2. Book: Oehring, Otmar. Christians and Yazidis in Iraq: Current Situation and Prospects. 2017. Kas.de. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.. 15. 978-3-95721-351-8. August 12, 2019. August 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190812100327/https://www.kas.de/documents/252038/253252/7_dokument_dok_pdf_49220_2.pdf/bfc19076-af7c-f2a4-bbb8-1a3e8d7f4c39#page=14. live.
  3. Book: Atwan, Abdel Bari. After Bin Laden: Al Qaeda, the Next Generation. 2013. The New Press. 9781595588999. 215. en.
  4. Web site: Worst terrorist strikes—worldwide. www.johnstonsarchive.net. 31 May 2017. 31 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170531055645/http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/wrjp255i.html. live.
  5. Web site: Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Raja Razek, "Iraqi officials: Truck bombings killed at least 500," CNN.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20071118172345/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/15/iraq.main/index.html?iref=topnews. dead. November 18, 2007.
  6. Web site: General Calls Attack on Yazidis 'Ethnic Cleansing'. NPR. 16 June 2016. 12 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160612083306/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12800852. live.
  7. News: Minority targeted in Iraq bombings. 15 August 2007. 16 June 2016. bbc.co.uk. 17 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171117004511/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6947716.stm. live.
  8. Web site: Login. 16 June 2016. 9 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201109010729/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/. live.
  9. Web site: How suicide bombings shattered Iraq – Secret Iraq Files – Al Jazeera English. 11 December 2014. 2 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110202101732/http://english.aljazeera.net/secretiraqfiles/2010/10/20101022161025428625.html. live.
  10. News: Glanz . James . 2007-08-15 . Death Toll in Iraq Bombings Rises to 250 . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-09 . 0362-4331 . 2023-04-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230407111740/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/world/middleeast/15cnd-iraq.html . live .
  11. Web site: Iraq: Amnesty International appalled by stoning to death of Yezidi girl and subsequent killings . 2023-05-09 . Amnesty International . en . 2018-11-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181122062542/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde14/027/2007/en/ . live .
  12. Web site: Yazidis Live Among Reminders of Deadly Attack. NPR. 16 June 2016. 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235247/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14968025&sc=emaf. live.
  13. News: Deadly Iraq sect attacks kill 200. 15 August 2007. 16 June 2016. bbc.co.uk. 14 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200514063354/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6946028.stm. live.
  14. Web site: Dozens killed in multiple suicide attacks in Iraq – CNN.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20070814185421/http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/14/iraq.main/index.html. dead. . August 14, 2007.
  15. News: Iraqi Interior Ministry: 400 killed in suicide bombings in northern Iraq. Ynetnews. 16 August 2007. 16 June 2016. 18 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171018104714/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3438476,00.html. live.
  16. Web site: Shiites, Kurds form alliance; 4 Iraqi kids found in rubble of bombed area - USATODAY.com. USA Today. 11 December 2014. 2008-05-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20080527002704/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-08-16-iraq-thursday_N.htm. live.
  17. Web site: Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera . 2023-05-09 . www.aljazeera.com . en . 2007-06-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070618183239/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8A2BB5AC-A330-4AF3-8ABA-7177872EC80F.htm . live .
  18. Web site: Al-Qaeda blamed for Yazidi carnage . 11 December 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071101031829/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1294152007 . 1 November 2007.
  19. Web site: AFP: Qaeda militant behind deadliest Iraq attack killed: US. https://web.archive.org/web/20111124093900/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuVsyU3hMlrjfbAiWbU45y1bgPOQ. dead. November 24, 2011.

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