01 November,2010 08:09 AM IST | | Agencies
Iraqi security forces stormed a church in central Baghdad late last night, freeing about 100 people held hostage by gunmen inside and bringing an end to a standoff that left at least one person dead, Iraqi and American security officials said.
The violence began when the militants first attacked the Iraqi stock exchange at dusk with grenades and automatic weapons. After battling security forces there, the militants fled to the nearby Catholic church, officials said.
Baghdad military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said that after a nearly four-hour siege, Iraqi security forces overwhelmed the handful of insurgents in the church, killing eight attackers and freeing all of the hostages. He said one policeman was killed and 12 civilians wounded.
But a city policeman and a hospital worker said two policemen were killed and eight people wounded.
An American military spokesman, Lt Col Eric Bloom, said about 100 hostages were in the church when the attackers came in. He said one hostage was killed during the incident and that there were three attackers, who blew themselves up when Iraqi forces stormed the building.
US forces provided air support but did not have soldiers on the ground going into the church, Bloom said.
Police said the gunmen also apparently set off a nearby car bomb in a coordinated strike during the melee.
A plume of black smoke hung over the scene of the bombing, and car sirens blared as police tried to clear the roads of onlookers and allow emergency trucks to reach the area.
A worker at the Ibn al-Nafis hospital confirmed the casualties. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.
