Incident Summary:
08/14/2007: Four coordinated vehicle bombs killed at least 500 and and injured 1500 in the towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, Iraq. The blasts targeted minority Yazidis, who speak a dialect of Kurdish and follow a pre-Islamic religion. The exact locations of the explosions within each town were not reported, but rescue workers report that 80 percent of the villages were destroyed or damaged. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities blamed al Qaida in Iraq.
Overview
GTD ID:
200708160008
When:
2007-08-14
Country:
Iraq
Region:
Middle East & North Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Nineveh
City:
Jazeera
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Jazeera residents |
| Specific Description |
Yazidi minorities, who speak a dialect of Kurdish and practice a pre-Islamic religion |
| Nationality of Target |
Iraq |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Vehicle |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Four vehicles detonated, but reports are mixed as to whether they were all tanker trucks or three cars and one tanker truck. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | Yes |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Al-Qaida in Iraq (suspected) |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
250 Fatalities / 750 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
250 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
2 |
| Total Number of Injured |
750 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Cave, Damien and James Glanz, "Toll in Iraq Bombings Is Raised to More Than 500," The New York Times, August 22, 2007. |
| Cave, Damien, Qais Mizher, Ahmad Fadam, Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi, Khalid al-Ansary and Diana Oliva Cave, “4 Truck Bombs Kill 190 in Kurdish Area of Iraq,” The New York Times, August 15, 2007. |
| “Iraq Mosul bombings: conflicting reports on death toll, US official accuses Al Qa'idah,” BBC Monitoring Middle East- Political, August 15, 2007. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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