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Iraq: Christians Targeted in Multiple Bus Bomb Attack

On May 2, 2010, multiple news media reports addressed the targeted attack on Christian students in Iraq on buses traveling to Mosul University with multiple bombs.  The bombings wounded at least 80 and killed at least one person who was a Christian shop keeper.

On May 2, 2010, Radio Free Europe reported:
— “Police say a Christian shop owner was killed when a car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded near buses transporting students from the predominantly Christian town of Hamdaniya, some 40 kilometers east of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.”
— “Hamdaniya mayor Nissan Karoumi says everyone in bus was Christian, and they were traveling to the University of Mosul.”

On May 2, 2010, the Voice of America reported that:
— “Two separate bombs exploded along the road leading into the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Sunday killing at least one person and wounding at least 80 others.  The bombs exploded near buses carrying Christian students who were traveling to Mosul University. Violence targeting the large Christian community in and around the city continues to anger and worry residents.”
— “The students were travelling by bus from Hamdaniya into Mosul when back to back bombs exploded with at least one blast tearing through the side of one of the buses, injuring dozens. Eyewitnesses say that shrapnel and shattered glass left many students dazed and bloodied, while a nearby shop-owner died from the force of the blast.”
— “A young man whose head was bandaged, face puffy and swollen, explained what happened from his hospital bed. He said that after his bus reached a clearing in the road the explosion took place about 100 meters further on. He goes on to say that he wasn’t paying attention when the blast occurred, but that he believes that two cars exploded.”
— “Another student described the situation on the bus after the explosions as ‘chaotic,’ with students screaming and blood all over. ‘I won’t forget (this day) for the rest of my life,’ he said.”
— “Christians in the violence-wracked northern city of Mosul have repeatedly been victimized by terrorist attacks in recent weeks and months. Some Sunni fundamentalists consider Christians to be infidels and supporters of the Shiite-led government in Iraq.”

On May 2, 2010, the New York Times reported that:
— “‘We were going for our education and they presented us with bombs,’ said Jamil Salahuddin Jamil, 25, a sophomore geography major, who was on board the lead bus. ‘I still do not know what they want from Christians.'”
— “The convoy of about 20 buses was taking students from Christian towns and villages in the Nineveh Plain, between Mosul and the semiautonomous Kurdistan region, back to classes at the University of Mosul.”

YouTube video on bus bombing
video part 1
video part 2

Fragments of a Blood-Stained Notebook After Targeted Bus Bomb Attack on Christians (Photo: AP)

Fragments of a Blood-Stained Notebook After Targeted Bus Bomb Attack on Christians (Photo: AP)

A wounded Iraqi woman receives medical care at a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, after a double bomb attack targeting buses carrying Christian students and university workers near Mosul in killed a shopkeeper and wounded 80 other people, 02 May 2010 (Photo: AFP)

A wounded Iraqi woman receives medical care at a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, after a double bomb attack targeting buses carrying Christian students and university workers near Mosul in killed a shopkeeper and wounded 80 other people, 02 May 2010 (Photo: AFP)