At least 175 peope were killed when three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers attacked a town, home to an ancient minority sect, in northern Iraq on Tuesday. Iraqi army Captain Mohammad al-Jaad said at least another 200 people were injured in the bombings in separate Yazidi neighbourhoods in the town of Kahtaniya, west of Mosul.
According to the AP, the triple suicide attacks came just after sundown. Police Capt. Ghanim Riyadh and a top local official Abdul-Rahman al-Shimri said several shops were set ablaze and apartment buildings were crumbled by the powerful explosions.
In Iraq's western desert, meanwhile, five American soldiers were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down Tuesday during a test flight. The cause of the crash was under investigation, said 1st Lt. Shawn Mercer, a Marine spokesman. A total of nine U.S. deaths were announced.
