BAGHDAD: Gunmen armed with silenced weapons shot dead 12 people at alcohol shops in the Iraqi capital yesterday, security and medical officials said.
The gunmen, who were travelling in four vehicles, restrained federal policemen at a checkpoint in the Zayouna area of west Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.
They then shot dead 12 people in multiple adjoining alcohol shops nearby, the ministry official said. A medical official confirmed the toll.
With alcohol forbidden by Islam, Baghdad liquor stores are an attractive target for fundamentalist groups, made more so because they are often staffed by religious minorities.
Saudi confirms four new cases of Sars-like virus
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has confirmed four new cases of the Sars-like novel coronavirus in its Eastern Province, state media reported late yesterday, citing the health ministry.
The health ministry said one of the four new cases had been treated and the patient had been released from hospital, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it had had a total of 24 confirmed cases since the disease was identified last year, of whom 15 had died. In its latest outbreak in its Eastern Province, it said it had had 15 confirmed cases, of whom nine had died.
Agencies
