BAGHDAD — Gunmen killed eight security guards and made off with nearly $7 million during a brazen bank robbery Tuesday in central Baghdad in the second such assault in a week. While overall violence is down in Iraq, ordinary crime has emerged as an increasing threat to the country’s stability.
Police said the robberies appeared to be the work of militants seeking money for operations after their funding was severely curtailed in U.S.-Iraqi military crackdowns.
The retaliatory sectarian violence that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war has declined sharply over the past two years, but armed robberies targeting jewelry stores, currency exchanges and pawnshops appear to be on the rise.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said he had ordered an investigation and called for increased security measures for banks.
The gunmen broke into the state-run Rafidain Bank at about 4 a.m., killing three on-duty guards and five others on the premises who were either on a break or asleep, according to Iraqi police. They seized 8 billion Iraqi dinars ($6.9 million), the Interior Ministry said.
It was not immediately known how many gunmen were involved. The Associated Press
