Masked gunmen attacked gold shops in Baghdad Tuesday, killing 15 people before they fled with a large quantity of gold, police and hospital officials said.
The assailants came to the southwestern neighborhood of Baiyaa in five cars shortly before noon, their faces covered with traditional Arab headscarves. They first set off a roadside bomb near the shops, killing four bystanders and wounding three, city police officials said.
Then they opened fire on 12 shops, killing nine gold shop owners or their workers and two bystanders. They threw percussion grenades into the shops as a distraction, then fled, police said.
"Former insurgents" who can't get jobs are suspected? That much bloodshed is sure to draw police attention and worse. Would criminals really want to be as high on the government's list as terrorists?
I'd guess this is al Qaeda types looking to replenish empty coffers since al Qaeda Prime cut them off since they have bigger problems than supporting the losing al Qaeda in Iraq effort.
But I'm just guessing. Perhaps I under-estimate the depravity of even ordinary criminals--"former" insurgents or not.
