Gunmen shot dead 14 people, mainly goldsmiths, and made off with gold and cash in a bustling shopping area of Baghdad today, an Interior Ministry source said.
Police said at least ten gunmen armed with pistols, bombs and Kalashnikov assault rifles attacked five goldsmiths and a money exchange on a bustling shopping street in the Bayaa district of southwest Baghdad.
One attacker was killed in a shootout with police when they tried to escape in civilian vehicles, the Baghdad security spokesman said. He said seven goldsmiths were killed, but the Interior Ministry source said the death toll was 14.
There is usually a heavy Iraqi security presence in the area.
The spokesman, major-general Qassim al-Moussawi, blamed Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda, saying they were in search of money to finance operations.
"It's a terrorist incident linked to the crimes conducted by al Qaeda to gain financing through armed robbery and stealing," he said.
He said some of the gunmen used silencers, killing the goldsmiths and stripping the stores of gold and cash.
On May 10th in Baghdad, gunmen equipped with silencers killed at least seven Iraqi soldiers and policemen in attacks on six checkpoints in the capital, part of a wave attacks that day that left more than 100 people dead.
The interior ministry source said the attackers also set bombs, a number of which police managed to defuse.
A witness near the scene said: "I heard an explosion and then I saw four dead bodies on the ground close to the gold shops."
Civilians fled shops and apartments near the scene of the robbery, and police sealed off the area in force to conduct a search operation. Mr Moussawi said two gunmen were arrested. The Interior Ministry source said four police officers were wounded.
An Iraqi politician elected to parliament for the cross-sectarian Iraqiya alliance was gunned down outside his home in the restive northern city of Mosul late on Monday, further fuelling tensions after the inconclusive March 7th election.
Reuters