Fifty-two killed in Iraq church raid

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Fifty-two hostages and police  officers were killed when security forces raided a Baghdad  church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics held by al  Qaeda-linked gunmen, a deputy interior minister said today.
Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal said 67 people were also  wounded in the raid on the church, which was seized by  guerrillas during Sunday mass in the bloodiest attack in Iraq  since August. The death toll was many times higher than that  given overnight in the hours after the raid.
The gunmen took hostages at the Our Lady of Salvation  Church, one of Baghdad’s largest and demanded the release of al  Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt.
“This death toll is for civilians and security force  members. We don’t differentiate between police and civilians.  They are all Iraqis,” Kamal said, adding the number did not  include dead attackers.
At least one bomb exploded at the start of the siege.  Sporadic gunfire rang out for several hours over the Karrada  neighbourhood near the heavily fortified Green Zone district  where many embassies and government offices are located.
U.S. and Iraqi military helicopters thundered overhead as  security forces cordoned off the area.
A federal police source who declined to be identified said  Sunday’s rescue operation was extremely difficult.
“The attackers were among children, armed with weapons,” the  source said. “Most of the casualties were killed or wounded when  the security forces raided the place.”
Iraq’s Christian minority has frequently been targeted by  militants, with churches bombed and priests assassinated.
“While I was trying to find my way out, in the dark, I  walked over bodies,” a Christian woman who was one of the  hostages told Reuters late day, asking not to be  identified. “There are many bodies there.”
Officials say some of the attackers blew up explosives vests  or threw grenades during the raid.