Robbers in Iraq have killed 14 people in an attack on a Baghdad gold market, interior ministry sources have said. The robbers hit nearly a dozen stores in the Bayaa neighborhood, killing the store owners and planting bombs in several of the buildings before fleeing with an unknown amount of gold.
“I heard an explosion and then I saw four dead bodies on the ground close to the gold shops,” the witness said. “The police are there and they are not allowing anybody close to the scene.”
The area is normally protected by the Iraqi security forces.
Spate of robberies
Gunmen have staged a series of attacks on jewellery stores in the Iraqi capital in recent months.
In May, gunmen robbed a jewellery store in northern Baghdad and killed the owner and a car bomb planted nearby killed three policemen responding to the robbery.
Earlier this year, robbers threw a grenade into a jewellery store in Baghdad and when police intervened, three people were killed in the ensuing shootout.
Last October, eight people were killed when gunmen robbed three jewellery stores in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood. A series of jewellery store robberies in Baghdad’s Tobchi neighbourhood left seven people dead in April.
Police rarely make arrests in connection with the robberies, which Iraqi officials have sometimes blamed on members of armed Sunni groups.
Banks have also become targets for criminals.
A group of gunmen stole $5m from a central Baghdad bank in July, and killed eight security guards during the robbery. Four members of the Iraqi security forces were later convicted of taking part in the attack.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies