Khitomer Massacre
The Khitomer Massacre was a Romulan attack on the Klingon colony on Khitomer on stardate 23859.7.
The attacking ships were presumed to be Romulan Warbirds, even though the Romulan Star Empire was still supposed to be an ally of the Klingon Empire. Using defense codes provided by a Klingon traitor, the Romulan forces disabled the planetary defense system and initiated a massive orbital bombardment, resulting in wide scale destruction of the population center and 78% estimated casualties. Two years earlier, Romulan forces had already attacked the Klingon outpost on Narendra III.
About 4,000 Klingon colonists there were killed; Worf and one other believed to be the only survivors.
The Federation starship USS Intrepid was the first to respond to the colony's distress signal. The ship also detected encoded Romulan tactical transmissions, but did not actually find the ships on arrival. They found only two survivors, a child and his caretaker, and took them to Starbase 24 to recover. (Worf never forgot the massacre, and hated Romulans for most of his life.)
A small number of Klingons were captured by the Romulans after the attack. They were interrogated for three months, following which the Romulans attempted to exchange the prisoners for territorial concessions.
The Klingon High Council refused to accept that Klingons would allow themselves to be captured, and would not negotiate. The Romulans would have executed the prisoners, but a Romulan Commander argued successfully that they should be allowed to live. The Romulans placed the Klingons at a remote camp on Carraya IV, and the prisoners (and the guards) were left and forgotten. They began and raised families together, discovered years later in 2369. Several of the hybrid children left Carraya, although to preserve their family honor, they did not disclose their true origins. They their parents' secret in order to honor them.
In 2366, Klingon warriors captured a Romulan ship, which held evidence in its logs that revealed the fact that there had been a Klingon traitor working with the Romulans.
However, the traitor belonged to the powerful House of Duras, and the Klingon Council decided to falsify the logs, implicating someone else, lest risking a civil war.
From 2366 to 2368, Mogh, father to Worf, was unfortunately considered among Klingons to have collaborated with the Romulans to enable their attack on Khitomer.
After the Klingon Civil War broke out late in 2367, Chancellor Gowron permitted the truth to be revealed and restored the honor of the House of Mogh.
The Khitomer Massacre was commemorated by an obelisk erected in memory of those who died.
