(KUNA) -- The Iraqi Islamic Party, led by Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashimi, said here Saturday US-Iraqi forces launched a crackdown on its headquarters in Baghdad on Friday evening. Some 20 firearms were seized by the joint forces during the crackdown on the party head office, the party said in a release handed out here.Helped by several Iraqi army officers, 30 servicemen of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq stormed the party building, tampered with its contents, smashed the doors of its rooms and seized 20 kalashnikovs, according to the release. The Iraqi Islamic Party blamed the Iraqi government for the damage that affected it, calling upon it to put an end to what it billed as "illegal practices". The party also admonished that civil institutions would be violated by anybody unless it played its due role in the protection of such bodies.
The party bolted from the incumbent Iraqi government, led by Nouri al-Maliki, but its leader Tarek al-Hashimi still holds the veep post. It is a key component of the Iraqi Accord Front, which has 44 out of a total of 275 parliamentary seats, in addition to General Council for the People of Iraq led by Adnan al-Dulaimi and the Iraqi National Dialogue Council led by Khalaf al-Ulayyan.