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Baghdad church hostage drama: death toll hits 52
A total of 52 hostages have been killed and scores injured during a shoot-out between US and Iraqi forces and al-Qaeda-linked gunmen in a Catholic church in Baghdad.
An Iraqi interior ministry official said after the attack said that seven security forces personnel were also killed and 15 wounded, but did not specify if any were Americans.
Five attackers were killed and eight arrested, he said, adding there had been more than 100 worshippers at the Sayidat al-Nejat church in central Baghdad when the hostage-takers stormed in.
American soldiers and Iraqi security forces had entered the church in the centre of the city to free worshippers being held by eight gunmen.
The gunmen had stormed the church in the Karrad neighbourhood during evening mass after killing two guards at the nearby headquarters of the Baghdad stock exchange.
At least one of the deaths came before the rescue operation. One of the freed hostages, an 18-year-old man, said the first thing the gunmen did when they entered the church was to shoot the priest.
"They entered the church with their weapons, wearing military uniforms. They came into the prayer hall, and immediately killed the priest," said the young man who declined to give his name.
All the hostages had been huddled into the main prayer hall when the gun battles began with security forces, he said.
"We heard a lot of gunfire and explosions, and some people were hurt from falling windows, doors and debris," he added.
Officials said that as police made a first attempt to enter the church earlier in the evening one gunman had blown himself up by activating a suicide belt he was wearing.
Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack on "the dirty place of the infidel which Iraqi Christians have long used as a base to fight Islam".
It said in a statement posted on radical Islamic websites that it was an action against the Christian church in Egypt.
The US military officially ended combat operations in Iraq at the end of August, but 50,000 troops still remain in the country.
Helicopters hovered overhead and loud explosions and gunfire were heard, shortly after officials said they were preparing to storm the church.
Earlier on Sunday, the gunmen killed two guards at the stock exchange as they tried to battle their way into the building earlier, an interior ministry official said.
The attackers detonated a bomb in a car parked close by, wounding four civilians, and escaped, he added, fleeing to the Sayidat al-Nejat church that was among six targeted by deadly car bombings on August 1, 2004.
The Chaldean bishop of Baghdad, Bishop Shlimoune Wardouni earlier told AFP that gunmen were demanding the release of detainees held in Iraq and Egypt and that two priests were among the hostages.
Iraq's Christians have been frequently the target of violence, including murder and abductions, over the past seven years.
Hundreds of Iraqi Christians have been killed and several churches attacked since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Around 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq in 2003 but their number has since shrunk to 550,000 as members of the community have fled abroad, according to Christian leaders.
An Iraqi interior ministry official said after the attack said that seven security forces personnel were also killed and 15 wounded, but did not specify if any were Americans.
Five attackers were killed and eight arrested, he said, adding there had been more than 100 worshippers at the Sayidat al-Nejat church in central Baghdad when the hostage-takers stormed in.
American soldiers and Iraqi security forces had entered the church in the centre of the city to free worshippers being held by eight gunmen.
The gunmen had stormed the church in the Karrad neighbourhood during evening mass after killing two guards at the nearby headquarters of the Baghdad stock exchange.
At least one of the deaths came before the rescue operation. One of the freed hostages, an 18-year-old man, said the first thing the gunmen did when they entered the church was to shoot the priest.
"They entered the church with their weapons, wearing military uniforms. They came into the prayer hall, and immediately killed the priest," said the young man who declined to give his name.
All the hostages had been huddled into the main prayer hall when the gun battles began with security forces, he said.
"We heard a lot of gunfire and explosions, and some people were hurt from falling windows, doors and debris," he added.
Officials said that as police made a first attempt to enter the church earlier in the evening one gunman had blown himself up by activating a suicide belt he was wearing.
Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack on "the dirty place of the infidel which Iraqi Christians have long used as a base to fight Islam".
It said in a statement posted on radical Islamic websites that it was an action against the Christian church in Egypt.
The US military officially ended combat operations in Iraq at the end of August, but 50,000 troops still remain in the country.
Helicopters hovered overhead and loud explosions and gunfire were heard, shortly after officials said they were preparing to storm the church.
Earlier on Sunday, the gunmen killed two guards at the stock exchange as they tried to battle their way into the building earlier, an interior ministry official said.
The attackers detonated a bomb in a car parked close by, wounding four civilians, and escaped, he added, fleeing to the Sayidat al-Nejat church that was among six targeted by deadly car bombings on August 1, 2004.
The Chaldean bishop of Baghdad, Bishop Shlimoune Wardouni earlier told AFP that gunmen were demanding the release of detainees held in Iraq and Egypt and that two priests were among the hostages.
Iraq's Christians have been frequently the target of violence, including murder and abductions, over the past seven years.
Hundreds of Iraqi Christians have been killed and several churches attacked since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Around 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq in 2003 but their number has since shrunk to 550,000 as members of the community have fled abroad, according to Christian leaders.
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