Iraq forces flush out militants who attacked government building

Iraqi policemen stand guard outside a building occupied by a state-owned company that was stormed by militants. Ahmad Al Rubaye / AFP

BAGHDAD // Iraqi forces killed four militants and ended a hostage crisis after attackers stormed a Baghdad government building on Thursday.

The brazen assault on a building in the north-east of the capital comes as security forces grapple with intensifying violence and an extended standoff with anti-government fighters in the western province of Anbar.

The deaths on Thursday took January’s death toll past 900 with elections looming, raising fresh concerns about the capabilities of Iraq’s security forces.

Six militants wearing suicide vests initially attempted to storm the transport ministry building, by blowing up a minibus rigged with explosives at the main gate, according to police at the scene.

When the explosion did not go off, one of the attackers blew himself up to clear the way for his fellow militants, followed by a second bomber who set off his vest at an inner gate.

The four remaining fighters then took hostages in the building for several hours before they were eventually killed by security forces, interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said.

At least two people were killed in the attack overall, including a policeman, and eight others wounded, according to Brig Gen Maan.

A police colonel and an interior ministry official confirmed the account and the toll.

“At the time of the attack, the employees in the building behaved very wisely and shut all their doors,” Brig Gen Maan said. “They kept all the employees inside.”

“The whole operation is now finished, everything is under control.”

Security forces had sealed off the surrounding area, which is home to other government offices, including the headquarters of the transport ministry and a human rights ministry building.

Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, bombings near a market and a restaurant in the Shiite-majority neighbourhoods of Kasra and Talbiyah killed six people, officials said.

They struck hours after car bombs ripped through Baghdad Jadidah, Shuala and Talbiyah, which are predominantly Shiite, leaving nine people dead on Wednesday evening.

Attacks on Wednesday also hit the capital’s outskirts, as well as the northern cities of Mosul and Tuz Khurmatu, killing seven others.

Violence has killed at least 911 people in Iraq this month, more than three times the toll for January 2013.

Agence France-Presse