New Level of Horror in Iraq

Aug. 15, 2007 — -- There seems to be no limit to the carnage and cruelty visited upon the people of Iraq. Bad as the killing of civilians has become in the past four years, there is now a new degree of horror in the country.

Four suicide bombers have executed the deadliest attack since the war began. It is impossible to know the overall death toll, estimates run from 200 to 500 killed, but entire neighborhoods and families have been wiped out. Scores of mud homes crumbled, leaving enormous craters in their place.

After the blasts, emergency rooms were quickly overwhelmed with the wounded -- many of them children.

The victims of the attack were Iraq's minority Yazidi population, who ethnically are Kurds but practice a religion that predates Islam. Muslim extremists hold the group in contempt because Yazidi do not believe in God.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks against the small sect, but the U.S. military said that the planning and precision involved in the attacks point to al Qaeda.

The four bombs exploded almost simultaneously. The first was hidden in a water truck and blew up when residents gathered at the vehicle to fill up their jugs. A fuel truck then exploded as people lined up for diesel. In the third attack, a suicide bomber plowed into a crowded bus station. The final bomb went off in the middle of a packed marketplace.

With most U.S. forces concentrated in Baghdad and neighboring provinces for the recent troop surge, those behind the attack chose to strike the Yazidis who live in an area with few defenses.

"It's virtually impossible to secure all small villages and farmland," said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon. "This is a remote area with little coalition presence."

The mayor of Simjar said American troops had been a tremendous help -- using their helicopters to evacuate the injured and working through the night to recover the dead.

And as rescuers continue to dig through the rubble, the anguish and fear goes on.