IRAQ: Shooting and bombing attack on a bus near Baghdad kills 52 prisoners and nine policemen

Record ID: 355873

  • Title: IRAQ: Shooting and bombing attack on a bus near Baghdad kills 52 prisoners and nine policemen
  • Date: 24th July 2014
  • Summary: TAJI, NORTHWEST BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JULY 24, 2014) (REUTERS) TRACKING SHOT OF ATTACK SCENE WITH SCATTERED DEBRIS TRAFFIC MOVING PAST SITE OF ATTACK VARIOUS OF DESTROYED BUS INTERIOR OF GUTTED BUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EMPLOYEE OF LOCAL ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT, SAYING: "We are employees of electricity department and we were told that a vehicle was attacked here, damaging power
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1G4HSIJ51AZJTO0IVWCKPVD21
  • Story Text: A shooting and bombing attack on a bus near Baghdad killed 52 prisoners and nine policemen on Thursday (July 24), Ministry of Justice and medical sources said, the latest in a string of assaults on prisoners in Iraq.
    The motive for Thursday's killings was not immediately clear but Iraqi security forces and government affiliated Shi'ite militias appear to have unlawfully executed at least 255 prisoners over the past month in apparent revenge for killings by Sunni militants, according to Human Rights Watch.
    The bus was transporting prisoners from a military base in the town of Taji to Baghdad when it was hit by roadside bombs, the sources said. Gunmen then opened fire.
    Much of Iraq's bloodshed these days is linked to deep sectarian divisions that have grown worse since Sunni militants formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized large swathes of northern Iraq last month and declared an Islamic empire.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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