Four govt workers killed in Baghdad

Four Iraqi government employees from the Ministry of Public Works were gunned down today on their way to work, a ministry spokesman said.

Amal Abdul-Hameed, advisor to the ministry, and three employees from her office were killed when assailants chased down their car and opened fire, said spokesman Jassim Mohammed Salim.

Describing the attackers as “brutal terrorists,” Salim said the drive-by shooting occurred in the western Qadisiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad.

Abdul-Hameed and her secretary died immediately while the other two employees died after being taken to Yarmouk Hospital.

Abdul-Hameed used to be in charge of the urban planning section of the ministry, he said.

At the scene in Qadisiyah, police gathered around a white Toyota, peppered with bullets and with its windows blown out.

Eyewitness Hashim Omran said he saw a car with four masked men drive up and open fire on the Toyota, which had four people inside.