9 die as gunmen raid Baghdad jewellery stores

AT least nine people were killed as masked gunmen swooped on jewellers in the Iraqi capital in a brazen morning rampage yesterday, bombing five stores after robbing them.

Gunmen robbed the shops along a street in the Bayaa neighbourhood of south-west Baghdad and shot the owners and staff, who accounted for all but two of the deaths.

“More than 10 gunmen in civilian clothes, carrying silencers and machine-guns”, entered Ashreen street, Bayaa’s main thoroughfare, having bypassed strict security controls, an interior ministry official said, on condition of anonymity.

The ministry official and witnesses said the men launched their attack by throwing stun grenades into the targeted shops to cause panic.

Most of the gunmen stood guard outside and fended off security forces as their fellow assailants entered the stores.

“Then they went into the shops, robbed everything, and killed the owners,” the ministry official said. “Afterwards they ran away – there were cars waiting for them.”

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta said seven shop workers and owners were killed along with one policeman and one of the assailants.

Police could not immediately give details on how much was stolen in the robberies.

“Security forces killed one of the assailants and found in his possession a bag filled with gold and jewels,” said Atta.

A minibus filled with weapons, masks and a bag of jewels was also recovered.

A police officer, who did not want to be identified, said two people were arrested in connection with the heists, adding that “women were involved in the attack, as well as civil servants,” hinting at possible collusion between the robbers and members of Iraq’s security forces.

State-funded Iraqiya television, citing Atta,reported that the commander in charge of security in the neighbourhood had been arrested, along with several officers responsible for the area.

Atta told reporters that security forces put up a perimeter around the Bayaa area and appealed to local residents for help in capturing the remaining assailants.

Crime has been on the rise in Iraq as the level of violence has fallen off from its 2006 and 2007 highs.

Security officials say insurgent groups may be carrying out such robberies to obtain much-needed income to fund operations.

“These gangs work with the aim of financing al-Qaida through kidnapping and robbery to fund terrorist operations,” Atta said.

In mid-December, Kurdish-speaking robbers in military camouflage entered the largest bank in the northern city of Kirkuk pretending to be hunting a would-be suicide bomber before making off with thousands of dollars.

Eight police guards were killed in a massive bank heist in the Iraqi capital last July. The pre-dawn raid on a branch of Al-Rafidain bank saw the robbers make off with $3.8 million (€3.1m), but the sum was later recovered.

In Iraq’s biggest-ever hold-up, robbers stole $13.5m (about €11m) from a Rasheed Bank branch in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, in January 2005.