Slaughter Of The Innocents

Students and staff of a Baghdad girls school have been caught up in the crossfire of the Iraqi Civil War:

Mortar shells rained down Sunday on a girls' secondary school in a mostly Sunni area of western Baghdad, killing four pupils and wounding 21, witnesses and police said. At least seven other people died in a series of bombings and shootings across the capital.

The mortar attack occurred about 11 a.m. at the Kholoud Secondary School in the Adil neighborhood of western Baghdad. Several projectiles exploded in the courtyard of the school, shattering windows in the classrooms and spraying pupils with shards of glass. Pools of blood smeared the stone steps and walkways.

Hours after the attack, grieving parents wept as the bodies of the victims were placed inside wooden coffins.

It was unclear who fired the mortars, but the area has been the scene of reprisal attacks by Sunni and Shiite extremists that have persisted as U.S. and Iraqi soldiers prepare for a massive security crackdown.

In an effort to protect their children from the increasing violence, many Iraqi parents are now keeping their children home rather than permitting them to attend classes. -------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.