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Thursday, 16 August 2007, 09:42 GMT 10:42 UK

In pictures: Iraq destruction

A vehicle stands amid the rubble of a Yazidi village

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Images have begun to emerge of the scale of the devastation after a series of bomb attacks on villages in northern Iraq.

Rubble in one of the Yazidi villages

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Major parts of two villages, both home to the Yazidi, a small Kurdish religious sect, appear to have been virtually levelled by a series of large explosions.

A boy is treated in hospital after the blasts

A boy is treated in hospital after the blasts

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The death toll from the blasts has already passed 250, and local officials in the remote area between Mosul and the Syrian border expect that figure to rise sharply.

Scenes of destruction

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The remote location of the villages made access difficult: camera crews reached the area late on Wednesday, capturing scenes of shattered homes and twisted metal.

A young child is treated at hospital

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Seven hospitals across the northern provinces of Iraq received more than 350 people injured by the bombs, as well as the dead bodies. A rush of blood donations was reported.

Police standing guard after the bombings

Police standing guard after the bombings

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Police moved in to secure the area, but the damage had already been done.

Scene of flattened buildings

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Large areas have been utterly destroyed. Rescuers continue to search, using their hands to dig for families who may have died together.

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Related to this story:
Fears over rising Iraq bomb toll (16 Aug 07 | Middle East )