This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/8171863.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Eight dead in Baghdad bank heist Baghdad bank robbers kill eight
(about 4 hours later)
Gunmen have raided a bank in Baghdad killing eight people and seizing a large amount of money, say reports. Suspected insurgents have robbed a central Baghdad bank of the equivalent of about $7m (£4m) in Iraqi dinars, killing eight guards, reports say.
All those killed were security guards at the state-owned Rafidain bank in Karrada district, local police said. The guards at the state-owned Rafidain bank in Karrada district were found bound, gagged and shot in a basement, a bank employee told AFP news agency.
Earlier this week, three people were killed in a raid on a money exchange office in Baghdad. Officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they believed insurgents had carried out the overnight robbery.
Iraqi security officials say such crimes are often linked to the armed insurgency against American and Iraqi security forces. A raid on a Baghdad bureau de change left four dead on Sunday.
One official told the Associated Press the attackers appeared to have used silencer-equipped weapons, as witnesses did not report hearing gunfire. Now robberies have become like foreign movies - they steal and kill and disappear Unnamed bank employee
Security sources initially believed the bank attackers used weapons equipped with silencers but later reports suggest they used pillows to muffle the sound of the gunshots while killing the guards.
It appears that the robbery was mounted shortly after a large sum of cash was delivered to the bank.
"I have never seen such a brutal crime," an employee at the bank told AFP, declining to give her name out of fear for her safety.
"Now robberies have become like foreign movies - they steal and kill and disappear."
A US military spokesman, Maj David Shoupe, said he could not confirm the attack had been mounted by insurgents.
But, he told the Associated Press news agency, "it does fit past trends of terrorist groups in Iraq of financing their operations through crimes - like kidnappings for ransom, robberies and black marketeering".