On August 14, suicide bombers drove trucks into two Yazidi communities, al-Qataniyah and al-Adnaniyah, in northern Iraq.  The Iraqi Army reported the death toll to be over 400, making it the most deadly attack of the Iraq war.  However, casualty estimates range from 150 to as high as 500.  Estimates of those injured range from 200 to 350 people.  The attack also left 600 homeless.

The majority of the deaths and injuries resulted from mud houses collapsing on their inhabitants.  Rescue teams used bulldozers, shovels, and hands to remove the fallen debris to uncover survivors and bodies.  In these poor communities, as many as 30 family members live in a single house.  So the destruction of a single home may result in many losses.

While no group claimed responsibility for the bombing, it is believed that members of the al-Qaeda (AIQ) in Iraq were the perpetrators.  The US military stated that the attack bore resemblance to other AIQ attacks.  It also stated that it expected an increase in violence in the region prior to a report on the Army’s troop surge due in mid-September.  In addition, targets such as these are seen as soft (easy) targets by insurgents driven out of large cities as a result of this recent surge.

The Yazidi are a religious minority in the Kurdish region of Iraq.  They are an isolated community, due to their religious beliefs and years of persecution by Muslims and Christians.  The main reason for their continued persecution is that the Yazidi revere an angel, in addition to a god, which Muslims and Christians equate to Satan.  Recent violence against the Yazidi includes an attack by gunmen in April, which resulted in 23 deaths.  It is believed that a stoning of a Yazidi girl who converted to Islam and eloped with a Sunni man sparked the earlier attack.

Many have condemned the attacks and Major-General Mixon, the commander of US forces in northern Iraq described the attacks as acts of genocide.  As many individuals in the Yazidi community lost family members in the attack, members fear annihilation.  Members of the Yazidi community have talked with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and asked for more security.  Other members have threatened that unless Iraq provides them with sufficient security that they will form their own security to protect their community.

For more information please see:
BBC:  “Fears over rising Iraq bomb toll”  16 August 2007. 

The Economist:  “No one is safe”  16 August 2007. 

International Herald Tribune:  “Iraq’s intolerance”  16 August 2007. 

London Times:  “Al-Qaeda bombing kills and maims 600”  16 August 2007. 

St. Petersburg Times:  “Once more, Yazidis find themselves as targets”  16 August 2007. 

Telegraph:  “Iraq bombs:  500 die in worst terror attack”  16 August 2007. 

Washington Post: “Toll in N Iraq Passes 400; Attack is deadliest of war”  16 August 2007. 

Washington Post:  “Yazidis fear annihilation after Iraq bombings”  16 August 2007. 

Reuters:  “Factbox: Who are the Yazidis?”  15 August 2007.