Gunmen on Monday attacked a crowded mall in eastern Baghdad and took hostages after shooting dead an unknown number of civilians, an Interior Ministry source said.
The attack occurred in the evening when a group of gunmen blew up some bombs and opened fire at the entrance of al-Jawhara Mall in Baghdad's al-Jadida district before they entered the shopping centre and took a number of people hostage, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for the security in the Iraqi capital, arrived at the scene while security forces sealed off the district and evacuated several surrounding buildings, the source said without giving further details about the whether there were suicide bombers among the attackers and how many people so far were killed and wounded.
--Indo-Aisan News Service
ahm/vd
