Militants storm Iraq govt office

Iraqi civil servants have been taken hostage after militants stormed a government office in Baghdad.

Militants have stormed an office of Iraq's human rights ministry in northeast Baghdad, taking several civil servants hostage, security officials say.

The attack was mounted on Thursday by eight armed men, police and an interior ministry official said.

Security forces sealed off the surrounding area, where there are several government buildings including the main headquarters of the transport ministry.

It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

No group claimed responsibility for the assault, but Sunni militants affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, have in the past mounted similar armed attacks on Iraqi government buildings.


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Source: AAP



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