Earlier on Monday, heavily armed gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a local Iraqi government building in western Anbar province, taking as many as 15 people hostage, including a police chief, police sources said. REUTERS
At least 13 people were killed on Monday after the Iraqi army stormed a local government compound in Anbar province to rescue hostages seized there by at least six suicide bombers, police sources said. It was not immediately clear if the casualties were killed during the initial attack or during fighting when soldiers retook the complex. Earlier on Monday, heavily armed gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a local Iraqi government building in western Anbar province, taking as many as 15 people hostage, including a police chief, police sources said. Casualties from the attack –initiated by two suicide bombers –were not immediately clear, and the Iraqi army had surrounded the compound, the sources said. “Gunmen stormed the governmental compound in Baghdadi town, and security forces are trying to resolve the situation,” Anbar’s governor, Qassim Mohammed, told Reuters. Anbar, a vast desert province in western Iraq, is the former stronghold of Iraq’s al-Qaeda affiliates. Suicide bombers killed four people last month in an attack on another government complex in Ramadi, which is also in Anbar. Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian strife, in 2006-2007, but Sunni Islamist insurgents and radical Shiite militias still carry out daily attacks as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw at the end of the year.
