Thursday, October 04, 2007
U.S. Army says list found of 500 Al-Qaeda members
Security
(AFP) - The US military said on Wednesday it had seized a list of some 500 Al-Qaeda members recruited to fight in Iraq from the Middle East and Europe during a raid in northwest Iraq that killed eight militants. Major General Kevin Bergner said the September 11 raid near Sinjar targetted a senior Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, known as Muthanna, who was killed along with seven colleagues.
"Muthanna was the emir of Iraq and Syrian border area and he was a key facilitator of the movement of foreign terrorists once they crossed into Iraq from Syria," Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad. "He worked closely with Syrian-based Al-Qaeda foreign terrorist facilitators," he added. "During the operation, we captured multiple documents and electronic files that gave an insight into Al-Qaeda's foreign terrorist operations not only in Iraq but throughout the region," he said.
The files revealed "a list of some 500 foreign terrorists being recruited by Al-Qaeda, biographies on 143 foreign terrorists en route to Iraq or who have already arrived, including personal data, photographs, recruiters' names, route and date of entry into Iraq." Bergner said they came from a range of countries including Libya, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Oman, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
The Iraqi and US governments have accused neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iran of not doing enough to check the flow of foreign fighters across their borders into Iraq. Among the documents were pledges by foreign recruits who were committed to suicide operations, Bergner added.
"Muthanna was the emir of Iraq and Syrian border area and he was a key facilitator of the movement of foreign terrorists once they crossed into Iraq from Syria," Bergner told a news conference in Baghdad. "He worked closely with Syrian-based Al-Qaeda foreign terrorist facilitators," he added. "During the operation, we captured multiple documents and electronic files that gave an insight into Al-Qaeda's foreign terrorist operations not only in Iraq but throughout the region," he said.
The files revealed "a list of some 500 foreign terrorists being recruited by Al-Qaeda, biographies on 143 foreign terrorists en route to Iraq or who have already arrived, including personal data, photographs, recruiters' names, route and date of entry into Iraq." Bergner said they came from a range of countries including Libya, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Oman, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
The Iraqi and US governments have accused neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iran of not doing enough to check the flow of foreign fighters across their borders into Iraq. Among the documents were pledges by foreign recruits who were committed to suicide operations, Bergner added.
Labels: Al Qaeda, Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, Muthanna, Sinjar
Monday, September 10, 2007
Mastermind behind Yazidi attack killed by U.S.
Security
(Gulf News) - A US air strike killed the Al Qaida militant who masterminded Iraq's deadliest bombings which killed more than 400 people on August 14, targeting the Yazidi sect, a US military spokesman said yesterday. He also said that "hundreds" of Al Qaida in Iraq had been captured or killed last month. "On September 3, a coalition air strike killed the terrorist responsible for the planning and conducting of the horrific attack against the Yazidis in northern Iraq on August 14," Rear Admiral Mark Fox said. Abu Mohammad Al Afri, also known as Abu Jasem, was killed in the air strike, southwest of the northern city of Mosul, Fox said.
Labels: Abu Jasem, Abu Mohammad Al Afri, air strike, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Mosul, Rear Admiral Mark Fox, Sinjar, Yazidis
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Yazidis consider forming own militia
Security
(Gulf News) - Until August 14 this year the word Yazidi, a reference to the followers of an ancient religious group, was hardly heard of in Iraq, although most Iraqis have started to add their tribal and sectarian backgrounds to their identities after the collapse of Saddam Hussain's regime. Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds in addition to Christians started to highlight their issues through parties and religious entities after the fall of Saddam, but Yazidis, whose population is around 600,000 of the 26 million Iraqis, remained out of the game because their leaders felt they had very little chance of being heard in the troubled country.
On that day in August, four suicide attacks ripped the peace of two Yazidi villages killing more than 500 civilians and injuring 1,000, (credible news reports mentioned half the previous figures, but community leaders told Gulf News the death toll had increased in the following days). The magnitude of the crime has, however, highlighted the issues of the forgotten Yazidis and alerted them to their fragile security.
In a telephone interview from her refuge in Germany, Princess Aruba Esmail Bik, the daughter of the popular Yazidi leader, Esmail Bik, told Gulf News Yazidis have lived in the Sinjar province, a mountainous area in the north west of Iraq for around 14 centuries. They have been subjected to 72 waves of ethnic and religious cleansing over their history, but the recent attacks were the worst. She said Yazidis had seriously started planning their own militia to protect their villages and towns.
"As a leader to my community, I feel a special Yazidi militia will be the right answer to the worries of thousands of innocent Yazidis in Iraq," she said. Like many Iraqis, she said Yazidis, who embrace an ancient Mesopotamian religion, thought the removal of Saddam Hussain's regime would put an end to the tragic life they had experienced under the tyrant regime, but that proved wrong. "A few months after the invasion the Yazidis' hopes evaporated as they realised that they had became a target of sectarian intolerance that prevailed in the new Iraq," she said.
The security forces of the old regime, which fought a merciless war against Kurds in northern Iraq, had targeted Yazidis more than once for being considered a security threat. After Saddam, Yazidis were targeted by different groups and suffered from ethnic cleansing aimed at uprooting them from their homes and villages. Thousands of Yazidis fled the country and the August 14 attacks provided clear evidence of the critical security conditions the community is facing," said Princess Aruba. She fled Iraq in 2001 and has not returned to her home since then but she is still in contact with the community inside Iraq and in exile.
She said the Tal Azir and Qahataniya explosions, the deadliest in the history of the war in the country since the 2003 invasion, has opened the eyes of Yazidis about the deficit in their representation in the federal government and in Parliament.
"Yazidis need to live in peace and enjoy the security they deserve. They are a very peaceful community and had never been involved in a conflict with other communities living in the country," she said. "We have no minister or a representative in the federal parliament. The government has to check our case seriously and look into solutions to our security concerns," she said. Yazidis are considered infidels by both Christians and Muslims.
On that day in August, four suicide attacks ripped the peace of two Yazidi villages killing more than 500 civilians and injuring 1,000, (credible news reports mentioned half the previous figures, but community leaders told Gulf News the death toll had increased in the following days). The magnitude of the crime has, however, highlighted the issues of the forgotten Yazidis and alerted them to their fragile security.
In a telephone interview from her refuge in Germany, Princess Aruba Esmail Bik, the daughter of the popular Yazidi leader, Esmail Bik, told Gulf News Yazidis have lived in the Sinjar province, a mountainous area in the north west of Iraq for around 14 centuries. They have been subjected to 72 waves of ethnic and religious cleansing over their history, but the recent attacks were the worst. She said Yazidis had seriously started planning their own militia to protect their villages and towns.
"As a leader to my community, I feel a special Yazidi militia will be the right answer to the worries of thousands of innocent Yazidis in Iraq," she said. Like many Iraqis, she said Yazidis, who embrace an ancient Mesopotamian religion, thought the removal of Saddam Hussain's regime would put an end to the tragic life they had experienced under the tyrant regime, but that proved wrong. "A few months after the invasion the Yazidis' hopes evaporated as they realised that they had became a target of sectarian intolerance that prevailed in the new Iraq," she said.
The security forces of the old regime, which fought a merciless war against Kurds in northern Iraq, had targeted Yazidis more than once for being considered a security threat. After Saddam, Yazidis were targeted by different groups and suffered from ethnic cleansing aimed at uprooting them from their homes and villages. Thousands of Yazidis fled the country and the August 14 attacks provided clear evidence of the critical security conditions the community is facing," said Princess Aruba. She fled Iraq in 2001 and has not returned to her home since then but she is still in contact with the community inside Iraq and in exile.
She said the Tal Azir and Qahataniya explosions, the deadliest in the history of the war in the country since the 2003 invasion, has opened the eyes of Yazidis about the deficit in their representation in the federal government and in Parliament.
"Yazidis need to live in peace and enjoy the security they deserve. They are a very peaceful community and had never been involved in a conflict with other communities living in the country," she said. "We have no minister or a representative in the federal parliament. The government has to check our case seriously and look into solutions to our security concerns," she said. Yazidis are considered infidels by both Christians and Muslims.
Labels: Esmail Bik, militia, Princess Aruba Esmail Bik, Sinjar, Yazidis
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Yazidis celebrate religious rituals under tight security
Security, Religion
(Voices of Iraq) - The Yazidi community in Iraq celebrated on Tuesday the 'Night of Blessings' at the holy temple of Lalsh, amidst tight security measures that were put in place after recent bombings killed and injured hundreds of Yazidis in Sinjar.
Bishmam from the Supreme Yazidi Spiritual Council said the rituals were significantly reduced during this year's celebration due to the deteriorating security situation and the attacks that targeted the Yazidi community in mid-August. "Some members of the choir were even unable to attend," he indicated.
A member of the security forces that was assigned to protect the temple told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that they were given strict orders to search and secure the area. "The tense atmosphere prevented many from attending the celebration this year, unlike previous years when scores of people converged on the temple to take part in the celebrations that would last until the early hours of the next morning," he said.
The holy temple of Lalsh is located 50 km north of Mosul. Giving brief background to the celebration, Samir Sheikh Sharwo, a researcher in Yazidi history from Mosul University, said 'Shab-e-Bara'at' is the night between 14 and 15 Shabaan [The 8th month of the Hijri calendar] where Yazidis celebrate the advent of Sheikh Hassan, who gave religious teachings after a six-year absence from his people, according to Yazidi religious beliefs.
Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds and most live near Mosul, with smaller communities in Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Syria, and Turkey. They number around 500,000 individuals in total, but estimates of their population size vary, partially due to the Yazidi tradition of secrecy about their religious beliefs.
Four truck bombs were detonated on August 14, 2007 in Kar Izir area, 35 km south of Sinjar, and at the Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound, killing or injuring more than 800. Sinjar, 120 km northwest of Mosul, is inhabited by Yazidis, a religious minority whose followers are generally situated in northern Iraq. Some 350,000 Yazidis live in villages around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad.
Bishmam from the Supreme Yazidi Spiritual Council said the rituals were significantly reduced during this year's celebration due to the deteriorating security situation and the attacks that targeted the Yazidi community in mid-August. "Some members of the choir were even unable to attend," he indicated.
A member of the security forces that was assigned to protect the temple told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that they were given strict orders to search and secure the area. "The tense atmosphere prevented many from attending the celebration this year, unlike previous years when scores of people converged on the temple to take part in the celebrations that would last until the early hours of the next morning," he said.
The holy temple of Lalsh is located 50 km north of Mosul. Giving brief background to the celebration, Samir Sheikh Sharwo, a researcher in Yazidi history from Mosul University, said 'Shab-e-Bara'at' is the night between 14 and 15 Shabaan [The 8th month of the Hijri calendar] where Yazidis celebrate the advent of Sheikh Hassan, who gave religious teachings after a six-year absence from his people, according to Yazidi religious beliefs.
Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds and most live near Mosul, with smaller communities in Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Syria, and Turkey. They number around 500,000 individuals in total, but estimates of their population size vary, partially due to the Yazidi tradition of secrecy about their religious beliefs.
Four truck bombs were detonated on August 14, 2007 in Kar Izir area, 35 km south of Sinjar, and at the Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound, killing or injuring more than 800. Sinjar, 120 km northwest of Mosul, is inhabited by Yazidis, a religious minority whose followers are generally situated in northern Iraq. Some 350,000 Yazidis live in villages around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad.
Labels: Bishmam, Lalsh, Night of Blessings, Shab-e-Bara'at, Sheikh Hassan, Sinjar, Supreme Yazidi Spiritual Council, Yazidis
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Yezidi leaders meet to plot a response after the bombings
Security
(The Guardian) - Aside from the physical damage it wrought, the coordinated bombing attack by suspected al-Qaida operatives revived fears among the Yezidi community, one of the region's oldest ethno-religious groups, of annihilation at the hands of their religious enemies - in this case, Sunni extremists. Along with other religious minorities in Iraq who initially rejoiced at the toppling of the Ba'athist regime, Yezidi Kurds say the subsequent chaos and political paralysis has left them as vulne0rable as before.
"The attack came as no surprise to us," Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, the temporal leader of the Yezidis, told the Guardian in his headquarters in Sheikhan, about 40 miles north-east of Mosul. Last April, the community came under the international spotlight when a Yezidi girl married a Muslim boy and was reported to have converted to Islam. She was promptly stoned to death by a mob in her hometown of Bazan. The murder was caught on a mobile phone camera and distributed on the internet. Yezidi leaders condemned the killing, but the damage was done.
"The attack came as no surprise to us," Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, the temporal leader of the Yezidis, told the Guardian in his headquarters in Sheikhan, about 40 miles north-east of Mosul. Last April, the community came under the international spotlight when a Yezidi girl married a Muslim boy and was reported to have converted to Islam. She was promptly stoned to death by a mob in her hometown of Bazan. The murder was caught on a mobile phone camera and distributed on the internet. Yezidi leaders condemned the killing, but the damage was done.
In response, gunmen pulled 23 Yezidi workers off a bus near Mosul and shot them dead. Hundreds of Yezidi students at Mosul university have since either fled or moved to universities inside the Kurdish autonomous area. For the past month, said Prince Tahseen, Yezidi leaders in Sinjar had been complaining of threats by Islamists. They said the militants, holed up among local Sunni Arab settlements along the Syrian border, had effectively blockaded Yezidi towns, preventing delivery of foodstuffs and fuel.
"The Islamic terrorists had made it very clear that they wanted to see rivers of Yezidi blood," said Prince Tahseen. But no one, least of all the US army, which is nominally in control of the region, was listening. "I'm sure it will happen again unless we take steps to protect ourselves," he said. "We are a peaceful people. We don't have force of arms. The only protection is for all the Yezidis is to be part of the Kurdish self-rule zone. But whether the Arabs allow us to vote on it as the constitution says we should, is another question."
In past centuries, the Yezidi tribes had been very powerful, covering large areas of Kurdistan. But waves of persecution, particularly under the Ottomans, has meant there are only isolated groups left in Iraq: in the foothills of Kurdish mountains and further south-west in the vicinity of Jebel Sinjar. Their numbers, thought to be only a few hundred thousand, had already dwindled by the 2003 US invasion. As part of his Arabi-sation campaign, Saddam uprooted Yezidis from their ancestral lands in Sinjar, herding many of them into new "collective towns" which were little more than large concentration camps.
But the Yezidis who live to the east of Mosul have fared better. There lies the town of Sheikhan, where the prince holds court, and their main religious centre at Lalish, in a steep, wooded valley punctuated with ribbed white conical towers that mark the positions of Yezidi shrines and tombs.
"The Islamic terrorists had made it very clear that they wanted to see rivers of Yezidi blood," said Prince Tahseen. But no one, least of all the US army, which is nominally in control of the region, was listening. "I'm sure it will happen again unless we take steps to protect ourselves," he said. "We are a peaceful people. We don't have force of arms. The only protection is for all the Yezidis is to be part of the Kurdish self-rule zone. But whether the Arabs allow us to vote on it as the constitution says we should, is another question."
In past centuries, the Yezidi tribes had been very powerful, covering large areas of Kurdistan. But waves of persecution, particularly under the Ottomans, has meant there are only isolated groups left in Iraq: in the foothills of Kurdish mountains and further south-west in the vicinity of Jebel Sinjar. Their numbers, thought to be only a few hundred thousand, had already dwindled by the 2003 US invasion. As part of his Arabi-sation campaign, Saddam uprooted Yezidis from their ancestral lands in Sinjar, herding many of them into new "collective towns" which were little more than large concentration camps.
But the Yezidis who live to the east of Mosul have fared better. There lies the town of Sheikhan, where the prince holds court, and their main religious centre at Lalish, in a steep, wooded valley punctuated with ribbed white conical towers that mark the positions of Yezidi shrines and tombs.
These areas abut the Kurd's autonomous region, the most tranquil part of Iraq. Several Yezidis hold positions in the Kurdish administration and sit in the regional parliament. They are trying to convince their brethren in the Sinjar area to join them, by voting in a referendum planned for the end of the year. A recent survey suggested that 80% of Yezidis may opt to join the Kurdistan regional government if given guarantees of religious and communal freedom.
"If we are all united inside the Kurdistan federal region, then we can have better protection and also have a better chance of asking for our rights," said Prince Tahseen. That may be one main reason why they were attacked, he says.
There was no doubting the galvanising effects that the attack has had. Prince Tahseen, whose royal line is said to date back some 500 years, and his spiritual counterpart - the Yezidi's equivalent of the Pope -Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, convened a gathering of tribal leaders in Sheikhan yesterday to plot a response. It included money and political support and a determination to bring Yezidis inside the Kurdish ruled areas for safety. After the meeting the men and their entourage left in a long convoy for Sinjar.
"If we are all united inside the Kurdistan federal region, then we can have better protection and also have a better chance of asking for our rights," said Prince Tahseen. That may be one main reason why they were attacked, he says.
There was no doubting the galvanising effects that the attack has had. Prince Tahseen, whose royal line is said to date back some 500 years, and his spiritual counterpart - the Yezidi's equivalent of the Pope -Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, convened a gathering of tribal leaders in Sheikhan yesterday to plot a response. It included money and political support and a determination to bring Yezidis inside the Kurdish ruled areas for safety. After the meeting the men and their entourage left in a long convoy for Sinjar.
Labels: Baba Sheikh Khorto Haji Ismael, KRG, Prince Tahseen Sayid Ali, Sheikhan, Sinjar, tribal, Yezidis
Friday, August 17, 2007
Peshmerga sent to Sinjar to restore security
Security
(Voices of Iraq) - A 340-strong Kurdish Peshmerga force was sent to northwestern Iraq's district of Sinjar to restore security and provide protection to the afflicted community, an official Peshmerga source said on Thursday. "The force will remain in the district until the security situation is secure," Peshmerga Commander Maj. Gen. Aziz Waizy told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Four truck bombs were detonated on Tuesday evening in Kar Izir area, 35 km south of Sinjar, and at the Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound, killing and injuring more than 500 people. In the aftermath of the attacks, Iraq's Kurdistan President Massoud al-Barazani called on Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior to provide protection for Kurdish minorities and accused a number of countries in the region of being behind the attacks
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Thursday a day of mourning for the victims of the blasts. Sinjar district, 120 km to the northwest of Mosul, is inhabited by the Yazidis, a religious sect whose followers are generally situated in northern Iraq. Some 350,000 Yazidis live in villages around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad.
Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds and most live near Mosul, with smaller communities in Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Syria, and Turkey. They number around 500,000 individuals in total, but estimates of their population size vary, partially due to the Yazidi tradition of secrecy about their religious beliefs.
Four truck bombs were detonated on Tuesday evening in Kar Izir area, 35 km south of Sinjar, and at the Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound, killing and injuring more than 500 people. In the aftermath of the attacks, Iraq's Kurdistan President Massoud al-Barazani called on Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior to provide protection for Kurdish minorities and accused a number of countries in the region of being behind the attacks
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Thursday a day of mourning for the victims of the blasts. Sinjar district, 120 km to the northwest of Mosul, is inhabited by the Yazidis, a religious sect whose followers are generally situated in northern Iraq. Some 350,000 Yazidis live in villages around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad.
Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds and most live near Mosul, with smaller communities in Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Syria, and Turkey. They number around 500,000 individuals in total, but estimates of their population size vary, partially due to the Yazidi tradition of secrecy about their religious beliefs.
Labels: Maj. Gen. Aziz Waizy, Peshmerga, Sinjar, Yazidis
Yezidi leader blames Iraq, Iran for attack
Security
(Al-Sharqiyah television) - Yezidi leader Anwar Mu'awiyah al-Umawi has accused the Iraqi government and Iran of responsibility for the August 15 attacks. He told Al-Sharqiyah television in an August 15 interview from Germany: "We received direct reports from informed sources in the area that the Iraqi government played a role [in the attacks]. Gangs affiliated with Iran are known to carry out such attacks. We should not forget that Iraq is not only under U.S. occupation. Iraq is under both U.S. and Iranian occupation.
These operations are meant to harm the Iraqis rather than a certain sect." Al-Umawi said his people have no one to turn to for support. "Iraq is now run by the traitors, while patriotic Iraqi figures, prominent leaders, and secular trends are abroad. So, who is there to complain to? Shall we complain to the Iranians, who are the enemies of Iraq? Shall we complain to the Americans, who are occupying the country? We have only God to complain to."
The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council blamed "criminal gangs" for the Sinjar attack in an August 16 press release posted to the Shi'ite party's website. Though it did not accuse any party of carrying out the attack, the party's statement implied that Sunni Arabs are to blame. The statement called on Iraqi tribes and "popular forces" to work with Iraqi security services to "rid the Iraqi people of their killers."
In an August 15 statement, President Talabani called the bombings another episode of genocide carried out by "takfiri" (Muslims who consider other Muslims to be infidels) terrorists against all segments of the Iraqi people, Al-Iraqiyah television reported. Kurdistan regional President Barzani accused the intelligence agencies of unidentified regional countries of carrying out the attacks, Al-Sharqiyah television reported.
Meanwhile, the Sunni Arab Muslim Scholars Association said it holds the Iraqi government and coalition forces responsible for the attacks. The statement also implied Iran was behind the bombings. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the bombings a "horrific crime," and stressed "the urgent need for all Iraqi leaders, regardless of their political or religious affiliations, to work together to protect civilian lives and to dedicate themselves towards a meaningful dialogue aimed at ending the violence and achieving lasting national reconciliation," according to a UN press release. The U.S. military has said the bombings bore the hallmark of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Kurdistan regional government Heath Minister Abd al-Rahman Yunis said the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi Red Crescent have begun to deliver relief supplies, food, and medicine to the villages.
Labels: Al Qaeda, AMS, Anwar Mu'awiyah al-Umawi, Iran, Iraqi government, Iraqi Red Crescent, KRG, SICI, Sinjar, Yezidis
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Yezidis targeted in simultaneous suicide bombings, 175 dead
Security
(Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday al Qaeda was the "prime suspect" in suicide bombings overnight on an ancient minority sect that Iraqi officials said killed more than 175 people in northern Iraq. Rescue workers searched for bodies in the rubble of dozens of buildings destroyed in up to five simultaneous car bomb attacks.
The attackers, driving fuel tankers, struck densely populated residential areas west of the city of Mosul that are home to members of the Yazidi sect, whose followers are considered infidels by Sunni Islamist militant groups. The fuel tanker attacks occurred about 8pm local time [1700 GMT]. The U.S. military said it was too early to say who was responsible, but the scale and apparently coordinated nature meant the attack carried the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. The United States has condemned the attack as barbaric.
In the aftermath of the blast, authorities imposed a total curfew in the Sinjar area, which is close to the Syrian border where the U.S. military has been battling al Qaeda in Iraq. It's also one of the transit points for fighters coming into the country from Syria. Sinjar district mayor Dakheel Qassim Hasoun said only people and vehicles involved in rescue efforts would be allowed to move through the area. He said it would be impossible to establish a final death toll any time soon because many bodies were still buried in the rubble of up to 30 houses destroyed in the blasts.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, U.S. military spokesman for northern Iraq, said U.S. forces were assisting Iraqi emergency agencies as they sifted through the rubble and were providing logistical, security and medical support. Iraqi army captain Mohammad al-Jaad put the death from the attack by at least three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers at 175, with 200 wounded. Hasoun said the death toll could go as high as 200. Dhakil Qassim, a mayor in the town of Sinjar near the attacks who blamed Al Qaida in Iraq, said four trucks approached Qahataniya from dirt roads and they all explodedwithin minutes of each other.
Iraqi authorities said the death toll was so high because most of the destroyed houses, all tightly packed in three Yazidi residential compounds, were made of mud that were shattered by the force of the attack. "It is going to be difficult to get a full death toll because of the nature of the buildings," Garver said.
The U.S. military said five vehicle-borne bombs had been detonated in Yazidi residential compounds in the villages of Kahtaniya and al-Jazeera. Jaad said the village of Tal Uzair was also hit. The Islamic State in Iraq, an Al Qaida front group, distributed leaflets a week ago warning residents near the scene of Tuesday's bombings that an attack was imminent because Yazidis are "anti-Islamic."
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria. Sunni militants have targeted Yazidis in recent months by kidnapping and killing them. Yazidis in Iraq say they have often faced discrimination because Melek Taus, the chief angel they venerate as a manifestation of God is often identified as the fallen angel Satan in biblical terminology.
Some members stoned a Yazidi teenager to death in April. She had converted to Islam and fled her family with a Muslim boyfriend. Police said 18-year-old Duaa Khalil Aswad was killed by relatives who disapproved of the match. The incident appears to have sparked an increase in attacks on Yazidis. The bodies of two Yazidi men who had been stoned to death were also found in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police said.
The attackers, driving fuel tankers, struck densely populated residential areas west of the city of Mosul that are home to members of the Yazidi sect, whose followers are considered infidels by Sunni Islamist militant groups. The fuel tanker attacks occurred about 8pm local time [1700 GMT]. The U.S. military said it was too early to say who was responsible, but the scale and apparently coordinated nature meant the attack carried the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. The United States has condemned the attack as barbaric.
In the aftermath of the blast, authorities imposed a total curfew in the Sinjar area, which is close to the Syrian border where the U.S. military has been battling al Qaeda in Iraq. It's also one of the transit points for fighters coming into the country from Syria. Sinjar district mayor Dakheel Qassim Hasoun said only people and vehicles involved in rescue efforts would be allowed to move through the area. He said it would be impossible to establish a final death toll any time soon because many bodies were still buried in the rubble of up to 30 houses destroyed in the blasts.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, U.S. military spokesman for northern Iraq, said U.S. forces were assisting Iraqi emergency agencies as they sifted through the rubble and were providing logistical, security and medical support. Iraqi army captain Mohammad al-Jaad put the death from the attack by at least three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers at 175, with 200 wounded. Hasoun said the death toll could go as high as 200. Dhakil Qassim, a mayor in the town of Sinjar near the attacks who blamed Al Qaida in Iraq, said four trucks approached Qahataniya from dirt roads and they all explodedwithin minutes of each other.
Iraqi authorities said the death toll was so high because most of the destroyed houses, all tightly packed in three Yazidi residential compounds, were made of mud that were shattered by the force of the attack. "It is going to be difficult to get a full death toll because of the nature of the buildings," Garver said.
The U.S. military said five vehicle-borne bombs had been detonated in Yazidi residential compounds in the villages of Kahtaniya and al-Jazeera. Jaad said the village of Tal Uzair was also hit. The Islamic State in Iraq, an Al Qaida front group, distributed leaflets a week ago warning residents near the scene of Tuesday's bombings that an attack was imminent because Yazidis are "anti-Islamic."
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria. Sunni militants have targeted Yazidis in recent months by kidnapping and killing them. Yazidis in Iraq say they have often faced discrimination because Melek Taus, the chief angel they venerate as a manifestation of God is often identified as the fallen angel Satan in biblical terminology.
Some members stoned a Yazidi teenager to death in April. She had converted to Islam and fled her family with a Muslim boyfriend. Police said 18-year-old Duaa Khalil Aswad was killed by relatives who disapproved of the match. The incident appears to have sparked an increase in attacks on Yazidis. The bodies of two Yazidi men who had been stoned to death were also found in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police said.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Jazeera, Duaa Khalil Aswad, fuel tankers, Islamic State in Iraq, Kahtaniya, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, Melek Taus, Qahataniya, Sinjar, suicide bombings, Tal Uzair, Yezidis
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Surge in attacks on Yazidis
Security, Minorities
(Azzaman) - Iraqi Yazidis are paying a heavy price for their tenacious adherence to their religious practices which do not appeal to armed fundamentalist factions and groups in the country. Attacks on Yazidis have surged recently and almost all Yazidi families living outside the autonomous Kurdish region have fled the country.
According to a statement issued by the League of Yazidi intellectuals 192 Yazidis have been killed in the past four years since U.S. troops invaded Iraq. Most of the killings were perpetrated on religious grounds as fundamentalist and Islamist groups see them as infidels who either have to convert or be killed.
The Yazidi religion is a conglomeration of different faiths and includes traces of Christianity, Islam and Zorastrianism. They worship the fallen Angel abhorred by Muslims, Christians and Jews. They have their main sanctuaries in Iraq close to the northern city of Mosul but currently are situated within the semi-independent territory Iraqi Kurds have carved up for themselves.
There are nearly half a million Yazidis in Iraq and most of them live in two major localities – in Shaikhan north of Mosul and Sinjar to the west. Ethnically they are Kurds and speak Kurdish as their mother tongue. Officially, they are treated on equal footing like other citizens in the Kurdish north but many members complain of discriminating behavior. They have three deputies in the Kurdish parliament and two in the national parliament in Baghdad.
According to a statement issued by the League of Yazidi intellectuals 192 Yazidis have been killed in the past four years since U.S. troops invaded Iraq. Most of the killings were perpetrated on religious grounds as fundamentalist and Islamist groups see them as infidels who either have to convert or be killed.
The Yazidi religion is a conglomeration of different faiths and includes traces of Christianity, Islam and Zorastrianism. They worship the fallen Angel abhorred by Muslims, Christians and Jews. They have their main sanctuaries in Iraq close to the northern city of Mosul but currently are situated within the semi-independent territory Iraqi Kurds have carved up for themselves.
There are nearly half a million Yazidis in Iraq and most of them live in two major localities – in Shaikhan north of Mosul and Sinjar to the west. Ethnically they are Kurds and speak Kurdish as their mother tongue. Officially, they are treated on equal footing like other citizens in the Kurdish north but many members complain of discriminating behavior. They have three deputies in the Kurdish parliament and two in the national parliament in Baghdad.
Labels: attacks, Mosul, Sinjar, Yazidis
