IRAQ: Nine people are killed in an attack on a Baghdad goldsmiths, as Iraq prepares to host the annual Arab League summit this month, where security will be a top concern

Record ID: 353617

  • Title: IRAQ: Nine people are killed in an attack on a Baghdad goldsmiths, as Iraq prepares to host the annual Arab League summit this month, where security will be a top concern
  • Date: 13th March 2012
  • Summary: WOMAN SEATED NEXT TO WOUNDED SON OUTSIDE HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED WOUNDED BOY, SAYING: "Two gunmen opened fire at us, at a car that was driving in front of us. The driver was hit here (points at his head) and I was hit here (points at his leg). I was hit by the same bullet (as the driver)."
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq, Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA1SGIY91QPMU7WZJ9JGN346S3L
  • Story Text: At least nine people were killed, including two policemen, when gunmen attacked a goldsmiths market in northern Baghdad on Monday (March 12), police and hospital sources said.
    Police said there were clashes between the armed men and security forces.
    Fifteen people were wounded, four of them police The gunmen were armed with hand grenades and other weapons and robbed four gold shops at the busy market in Baghdad's district of Ur, a hospital source said.
    The attack was the latest violence in the run-up to a meeting of Arab leaders intended as the debut for Iraq on the regional stage after the withdrawal of U.S. forces in December.
    Nine years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is determined to show it can maintain sufficient security to play host to its neighbours for its first Arab summit at the end of this month.
    Violence in Iraq has declined since the height of sectarian conflict in 2006-07, but bombings and shootings still take place on a daily basis.
    U.S. troops withdrew in December but some militant groups, particularly Sunni insurgents allied to al Qaeda, have said they will not lay down their arms, and many Iraqis worry whether their government has the wherewithal to impose security.
    Five other deaths were reported elsewhere in the city in attacks on security forces and a government office on Monday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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