Seven million dollar Iraq bank heist leaves eight dead

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Eight security guards were tied up, gagged, and killed when armed robbers held up the Rafidain bank in Karradah district of Baghdad, Baghdad bureau de change, and made off with 8.5ع.د billion (US$7 million).

The robbery occured about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. Five of the guards were off duty and may have been on break or asleep, and only three were actively on duty at the time of the break in.

Initial investigations in the capital city of Iraq reveal that pillows may have been used to muffle the gunshot noise rather than silencers.

"I have never seen such a brutal crime. Now robberies have become like foreign movies - they steal and kill and disappear," said a bank employee.

It is not certain at this time if the robbers were funding terrorist causes from the proceeds of the bank robbery.

"While I cannot confirm that the attacks were terrorist related, it does fit past trends of terrorist groups in Iraq of financing their operations through crimes — like kidnappings for ransom, robberies and black marketeering," reported U.S. Army spokesman Maj. David Shoupe.

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Sources

Anne Barker. "Guards killed in $8m Iraq heist" — ABC News (Australia), July 28, 2009
"Baghdad bank robbers kill eight" — BBC News Online, July 28, 2009
Associated Press. "8 Killed in $7M Baghdad Bank Robbery" — Fox News Channel, July 28, 2009

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Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.