Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500

Deadliest terror attack since fall of Hussein

By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 16, 2007 12:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – The death toll from Tuesday's series of suicide truck bombings in northern Iraq may exceed 500, with scores more lying injured in hospitals, CNN reports. The attacks were reportedly launched by al-Qaeda against the Yazidi, a pre-Islamic sect, spotlighting the religious warfare that US troop surge sought to quell.

The bombings were the deadliest terrorist operation since the fall of Saddam Hussein and could become the worst such attack since 9/11. While the extra American troops have shielded Baghdad from many insurgent bombings, terrorist activity has increased elsewhere in the country, especially in northern Iraq, which enjoyed relative peace before the troop surge, reports Time magazine.

An injured man is treated at a hospital in Dahuk, 430 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. Four simultaneous suicide bombing attacks on Tuesday aimed at communities... (Associated Press)

An image taken from video shows an injured man recovering in a hospital in Dahuk, 430 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. Four simultaneous suicide bombing attacks... (Associated Press)

A critically injured patient arrives at a hospital in Dahuk, 430 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007, after four simultaneous suicide bombing attacks on Tuesday... (Associated Press)

Iraqis inspect 07 April 2007 destruction following the explosion... (Getty Images)

Men stand among the ruins of their homes on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007, after a coordinated suicide attack late Tuesday, in the town late of Qahataniya, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Mosul, Iraq..... (Associated Press)

Yazidis, a small Kurdish sect that has been the target of Muslim extremists who label it blasphemous. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ibrahim) (Associated Press)

A building lies in ruins Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007, after a coordinated suicide attack on Tuesday, in the town of Qahataniya, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Mosul, Iraq. Rescuers dug through the muddy... (Associated Press)

Men stand among the ruins of their razed houses on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007, after a coordinated suicide attack late Tuesday, in the town late of Qahataniya, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Mosul,... (Associated Press)

Yazidis, a small Kurdish sect that has been the target of Muslim extremists who label it blasphemous. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ibrahim) (Associated Press)

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Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500

Deadliest terror attack since fall of Hussein

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Morgue Stats Show Surge in Iraqi Killings

321 corpses found in Baghdad in first three weeks of May alone

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Ally undermining Bush strategy and fledgling government

Shiite al-Sadr Reaches Out to Sunni Rivals

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Suspected suicide bomber was bodyguard of Sunni MP

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Deadliest terror attack since fall of Hussein

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Iraq • Islam • terrorism • sectarian violence • Sunni • insurgents • troop surge • Iraq death toll • Yazidi • ethnic cleansing • al-Qaeda • Iraq war

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Morgue Stats Show Surge in Iraqi Killings

321 corpses found in Baghdad in first three weeks of May alone

Saudi King Backs Iraq's Sunni Rebels

Ally undermining Bush strategy and fledgling government

Shiite al-Sadr Reaches Out to Sunni Rivals

Switch in tactics aims at hastening US withdrawal

Eight Dead In Bombing of Iraqi Parliament

Suspected suicide bomber was bodyguard of Sunni MP

Sunni Baghdad Lies in Ruins as Shiites Rebuild

Insurgents target efforts to provide food, fuel, services

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Newser By Users

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