Daring raid stokes Baghdad fears

By Andy Gallacher
BBC News, Baghdad

Violence and death continues to blight each Baghdad day

Mass kidnappings by gunmen disguised as members of the security forces have become commonplace in Baghdad, but it is thought that this is the largest since the US-led invasion.

It was well organised, daring and was carried out in broad daylight.

When around 20 vehicles pulled up outside the higher education building in central Baghdad the men were not questioned by the guards.

It seems they were wearing interior ministry uniforms, which were specifically designed in the US so that they would be hard for militants to get hold of.

That suggests the uniforms were either copied or there was some kind of collusion within the security forces, something not uncommon for Baghdad.

Once inside the four-storey building the militants gathered all the civil servants together, separating the men and women.

Mobile phones were confiscated before about 100 men were driven away from the building in handcuffs.

The head of the parliamentary education committee, Alaa Makki, interrupted a televised parliamentary session with the news and urged the prime minister and interior and defence ministers to respond rapidly to what he called a "national catastrophe".

Violence unabated

Kidnappings like this are part of daily life here.

Often they are carried out by criminal elements who hold their victims for ransom, while in other cases the bodies are found days later.

Leaders in Washington want to see the Iraqi security forces operating independently so that coalition forces can eventually pull out

In the aftermath of the kidnapping relatives of the men, whose fate is now uncertain, gathered outside the building seeking news of their loved ones.

In other parts of the city bloodshed continued unabated.

A car bomb at a road junction in central Baghdad killed 10 people and injured a further 25.

After four mortars exploded in north-east Baghdad four people lost their lives and six others were injured.

Yet another roadside bomb in the east of the city killed two and injured 10.

The continued violence will come as a severe blow for leaders in Washington. They want to see the security forces here operating independently so that coalition forces can eventually pull out.

A daylight raid on an education building and the largest mass kidnapping in more than three years means that reality is a long way off.