BAGHDAD - Iraq created a military task force Sunday to battle gangland-style crime after the latest bloodshed: gunmen with silencer-fitted weapons killing at least seven people during a daylight heist of jewelry stores.The swift government response to the robberies appeared to reflect worries by Iraqi officials about a rise in violence in recent weeks and their efforts to display a tough stance. Although attacks remain well below levels of past years, Iraqi authorities are under pressure to show greater competence as U.S. commanders gradually hand over security duties before their planned withdrawal from most urban bases by June 30.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a full-scale investigation by a police-military committee. Hours earlier, he reminded Iraqis that it is impossible to wipe out lawlessness and extremist violence with ‘one blow.’
‘There are channels and cells that will stay ... so security is not finished by one military strike,’ he said in a speech in central Baghdad.
The Iraqi military said a ‘criminal gang using weapons equipped with silencers’ was behind the slayings in the Shiite-dominated al-Tobji neighborhood of northern Baghdad. The robbers escaped in waiting cars with jewelry and cash, witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears of militant reprisals.
Though extremist attacks have declined dramatically in Iraq, the number of robberies and attacks on jewelry stores, currency exchanges and pawn shops appears to be increasing. A day earlier, gunmen used similar tactics during the robbery of a currency exchange in the southern city of Basra. At least two people were killed.
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said the gunmen in the Baghdad robberies used three cars in the heist. The robbers made off with an unknown amount of money and jewelry, he said.
Al-MalikiÂ’s office said a military committee will investigate the incident and track down those involved, and it urged citizens to come forward if they have information.