By Xinhua
Mosul (Iraq) : At least 500 people were killed and 375 injured in a series of bombings and mortar shelling that ripped through a village in Sinjar town of this northern Iraqi city, hospital sources said.
“We have received 500 corpses and 375 injured people,” said Kifah Muhammad, the manager of the hospital in Sinjar, a town in Nineveh province.
Suspected militants detonated four vehicles laden with explosives in Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound late Tuesday.
Earlier, officials had said 274 people were killed in the Mosul bombings.
The attacks were apparently targeted at residents from Yazidi sect, a religious minority in Iraq.
DPA adds: Most of the victims are reportedly from the sect, since the targeted district is largely inhabited by Yazidis. Around 350,000 Yazidis are living in villages around Mosul.
BBC reported that there had been rising tension recently between Yazidis and Muslims in the area northwest of Mosul. The latest issues had arisen from the reported stoning in April by Yazidis of a girl from their community who had converted to Islam.