Iraqi insurgents take hostages at police station

Army surrounds building after insurgents burst in disguised as police officers and take hostages including mayor Iraqi insurgents are holding a town mayor and other people hostage in a police station after bursting in disguised as police officers, opening fire and blowing up an explosives vest, Iraqi officials said. The Iraqi army was surrounding the police station in the town of al-Baghdadi, 125 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province, said the deputy provincial governor, Dhari Arkan. It was not immediately clear how many people were being held inside the station, or whether the attackers had made any demands. The ongoing standoff in western Iraq’s Anbar province demonstrates the vulnerability of the Iraqi security forces at a time when American troops are swiftly drawing down their presence after more than eight years of war. The attackers broke into the police station wearing police uniforms to disguise themselves and immediately opened fire, provincial police officials said. Then one of the insurgents blew himself up, the officials said. Among the hostages is the mayor of al-Baghdadi, whose office is on the second floor of the police station, according to the officials. The mayor of the nearby town of Hit, Hikmat Juber, confirmed the attack and hostage standoff. He said officials working on the second floor of the building where some provincial offices were located had also been taken hostage. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Anbar province has been a hotbed of Iraq’s insurgency for years. Sunni militants aligned with terror groups such as al-Qaida often attack the local police and military, whom they see as traitors and supporters of the Shia-led government. Under a 2008 agreement, all American forces must leave Iraq by the end of this year, although US and Iraqi officials have been discussing whether to have a small US military presence in Iraq into next year. Iraq Middle East guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.