S
Sid9
Guest
August 15, 2007
4 Truck Bombs Kill 200 in Kurdish Area of Iraq
By DAMIEN CAVE
Four truck bombs exploded in two Iraqi villages in a Kurdish-speaking area
near the Syrian border on Tuesday. The Iraqi authorities said at least 200
people had been killed, The Associated Press reported.
The bombs destroyed houses and sent hundreds of the wounded to at least six
hospitals as far as 150 miles away, the authorities said.
Hours after the blasts, victims were still buried in dusty rubble as
American helicopters ferried away the wounded.
"Half the houses are completely collapsed because they were made from clay,"
said Capt. Mohammed Ahmad of the Iraqi Army's 3rd Division. He said scores
of families were obliterated in the blast that wiped out a market and a bus
station.
Another Iraqi officer described the scene as apocalyptic: "It looks like a
nuclear bomb hit the villages," he said.
The bombs - including at least one rigged to a fuel tanker - detonated in
quick succession around 8 p.m. in Qahtaniya and Jazeera, two towns populated
mostly by Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking sect that mixes elements of Islam with
the teachings of an ancient Persian religion.
The group has long been a minority in Iraq, and after some Yazidis stoned a
Yazidi woman to death for dating a Sunni Arab man in April, members of the
sect became frequent targets of Sunni attacks. When a video of the Yazidi
woman being stoned appeared on the Internet, gunmen stopped minibuses full
of Yazidi laborers and killed 23 of them. Many Yazidis have recently moved
to villages farther west, where they make up a majority. The deadly assault
on Tuesday crushed the hope that there would be safety in numbers -
especially near the border with Syria, which American officials have long
described as an entry point for foreign fighters.
The blasts capped one of the worst days of violence in months and raised
further questions about whether the American military effort has pushed
insurgents into less populated areas.
The explosions also came only a few hours after Iraqi leaders met for lunch
in advance of a "crisis summit" meeting to discuss how to solve their
sectarian divisions and smooth out their knotted government.
The gathering, like many before it, produced no results. An aide to
President Jalal Talabani called the lunch "an icebreaker," but Adnan
Dulaimi, leader of the largest Sunni bloc, said nothing political was
discussed.
"It was only an invitation for lunch," he said. "We didn't engage in any
negotiations."
American officials have been pushing Iraqi leaders to hammer out a grand
compromise on several outstanding issues, from a new oil law to provincial
elections. But in the midst of the continued stalemate - with the Shiite-led
government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki missing 11 cabinet
ministers who have quit in protest - violence and the American effort to
stop it continued to shudder through the country.
In an attack on Tuesday that seemed destined to heighten political tensions,
at least 100 gunmen in Iraqi Army uniforms kidnapped several senior Oil
Ministry officials from their homes in a fortified government compound. The
captives - the deputy oil minister, Abdul Jabar al-Wagaa, three department
heads and one of the officials' sons - were abducted from a guarded area
that sits about 300 yards from an Iraqi Army checkpoint often manned with
tanks.
The motives for the kidnappings remained unclear. Mr. Wagaa, the most senior
deputy minister, is a Sunni Muslim from Baiji, where Iraq's oil refining is
concentrated. Attacks by gunmen wearing army or police uniforms are
typically attributed to Shiite militias that work within the security
forces.
But the Iraqi oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, said the abduction did
not appear to be sectarian because at least two of the victims were Shiites.
"The goal of this operation is to stop the work of the government and to
damage the political process," he told the state news channel, Iraqiya.
Elsewhere in Iraq on Tuesday, a truck bomb in Taji, north of Baghdad, killed
at least 10 people and destroyed a bridge on the main highway connecting the
capital with northern cities like Mosul.
Witnesses said the explosion destroyed the bridge, which was damaged in May
by a car bomb, and sent several vehicles into a canal. Afterward, American
and Iraqi divers could be seen trying to pull people out of the water.
Military officials said the cause of a helicopter crash on Tuesday that
killed five Americans in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, was still under
investigation. A statement said the dual rotor CH-47 Chinook went down
"while conducting a routine post-maintenance-check flight."
Three American soldiers also died from a roadside bomb on Monday near Mosul,
the military said in a statement. Two others died from attacks in western
Baghdad, one on Tuesday, another on Monday.
Meanwhile, in Diyala Province, roughly 10,000 American soldiers and 6,000
Iraqis continued to push through villages surrounding Baquba in what
commanders described as a large-scale offensive aimed at Sunni extremists.
The operation follows a major effort in June to seize control of Baquba, the
area's main city, from organizations like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a
homegrown Sunni Arab extremist group with some foreign operatives. Many
gunmen fled when the American and Iraqi troops arrived in force.
Military officials said the latest phase, named Lightning Hammer, began
Monday and sought to attack the insurgents where they found refuge,
especially among villages outside Baquba.
"The Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces are committed to the people of Diyala,
they are committed to fighting for the Iraqi people's security," said Maj.
Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North, which covers
the area. "We will aggressively and persistently target Al Qaeda, an
organization that brings nothing but hatred, destruction and disregard for
the very foundation of the Iraqi peoples' principles and faith."
Military officials did not say whether the truck bombings could also be a
result of their efforts in other areas.
Residents in and around Qahtaniya said the area held many members of Al
Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Past operations have pushed insurgents to new
locations only to return later, but it is not clear where the attackers on
Tuesday were based.
4 Truck Bombs Kill 200 in Kurdish Area of Iraq
By DAMIEN CAVE
Four truck bombs exploded in two Iraqi villages in a Kurdish-speaking area
near the Syrian border on Tuesday. The Iraqi authorities said at least 200
people had been killed, The Associated Press reported.
The bombs destroyed houses and sent hundreds of the wounded to at least six
hospitals as far as 150 miles away, the authorities said.
Hours after the blasts, victims were still buried in dusty rubble as
American helicopters ferried away the wounded.
"Half the houses are completely collapsed because they were made from clay,"
said Capt. Mohammed Ahmad of the Iraqi Army's 3rd Division. He said scores
of families were obliterated in the blast that wiped out a market and a bus
station.
Another Iraqi officer described the scene as apocalyptic: "It looks like a
nuclear bomb hit the villages," he said.
The bombs - including at least one rigged to a fuel tanker - detonated in
quick succession around 8 p.m. in Qahtaniya and Jazeera, two towns populated
mostly by Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking sect that mixes elements of Islam with
the teachings of an ancient Persian religion.
The group has long been a minority in Iraq, and after some Yazidis stoned a
Yazidi woman to death for dating a Sunni Arab man in April, members of the
sect became frequent targets of Sunni attacks. When a video of the Yazidi
woman being stoned appeared on the Internet, gunmen stopped minibuses full
of Yazidi laborers and killed 23 of them. Many Yazidis have recently moved
to villages farther west, where they make up a majority. The deadly assault
on Tuesday crushed the hope that there would be safety in numbers -
especially near the border with Syria, which American officials have long
described as an entry point for foreign fighters.
The blasts capped one of the worst days of violence in months and raised
further questions about whether the American military effort has pushed
insurgents into less populated areas.
The explosions also came only a few hours after Iraqi leaders met for lunch
in advance of a "crisis summit" meeting to discuss how to solve their
sectarian divisions and smooth out their knotted government.
The gathering, like many before it, produced no results. An aide to
President Jalal Talabani called the lunch "an icebreaker," but Adnan
Dulaimi, leader of the largest Sunni bloc, said nothing political was
discussed.
"It was only an invitation for lunch," he said. "We didn't engage in any
negotiations."
American officials have been pushing Iraqi leaders to hammer out a grand
compromise on several outstanding issues, from a new oil law to provincial
elections. But in the midst of the continued stalemate - with the Shiite-led
government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki missing 11 cabinet
ministers who have quit in protest - violence and the American effort to
stop it continued to shudder through the country.
In an attack on Tuesday that seemed destined to heighten political tensions,
at least 100 gunmen in Iraqi Army uniforms kidnapped several senior Oil
Ministry officials from their homes in a fortified government compound. The
captives - the deputy oil minister, Abdul Jabar al-Wagaa, three department
heads and one of the officials' sons - were abducted from a guarded area
that sits about 300 yards from an Iraqi Army checkpoint often manned with
tanks.
The motives for the kidnappings remained unclear. Mr. Wagaa, the most senior
deputy minister, is a Sunni Muslim from Baiji, where Iraq's oil refining is
concentrated. Attacks by gunmen wearing army or police uniforms are
typically attributed to Shiite militias that work within the security
forces.
But the Iraqi oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, said the abduction did
not appear to be sectarian because at least two of the victims were Shiites.
"The goal of this operation is to stop the work of the government and to
damage the political process," he told the state news channel, Iraqiya.
Elsewhere in Iraq on Tuesday, a truck bomb in Taji, north of Baghdad, killed
at least 10 people and destroyed a bridge on the main highway connecting the
capital with northern cities like Mosul.
Witnesses said the explosion destroyed the bridge, which was damaged in May
by a car bomb, and sent several vehicles into a canal. Afterward, American
and Iraqi divers could be seen trying to pull people out of the water.
Military officials said the cause of a helicopter crash on Tuesday that
killed five Americans in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, was still under
investigation. A statement said the dual rotor CH-47 Chinook went down
"while conducting a routine post-maintenance-check flight."
Three American soldiers also died from a roadside bomb on Monday near Mosul,
the military said in a statement. Two others died from attacks in western
Baghdad, one on Tuesday, another on Monday.
Meanwhile, in Diyala Province, roughly 10,000 American soldiers and 6,000
Iraqis continued to push through villages surrounding Baquba in what
commanders described as a large-scale offensive aimed at Sunni extremists.
The operation follows a major effort in June to seize control of Baquba, the
area's main city, from organizations like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a
homegrown Sunni Arab extremist group with some foreign operatives. Many
gunmen fled when the American and Iraqi troops arrived in force.
Military officials said the latest phase, named Lightning Hammer, began
Monday and sought to attack the insurgents where they found refuge,
especially among villages outside Baquba.
"The Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces are committed to the people of Diyala,
they are committed to fighting for the Iraqi people's security," said Maj.
Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North, which covers
the area. "We will aggressively and persistently target Al Qaeda, an
organization that brings nothing but hatred, destruction and disregard for
the very foundation of the Iraqi peoples' principles and faith."
Military officials did not say whether the truck bombings could also be a
result of their efforts in other areas.
Residents in and around Qahtaniya said the area held many members of Al
Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Past operations have pushed insurgents to new
locations only to return later, but it is not clear where the attackers on
Tuesday were based.
