Gunmen Attack Iraqi Archbishop’s Residence
13 Jan 2012 – by Carol Glatz?
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Gunmen shooting at
guards keeping watch over the archbishop’s residence in Kirkuk in northern Iraq triggered a firefight, leaving two of the gunmen dead and five policemen wounded.
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Louis Sako told
Vatican Radio that he had just returned home from a
parish visit before the drive-by attack Jan. 11.
After the shooting, the archbishop said he
immediately went to the scene to We are not afraid,” he said. “It’s also true that the
situation is a bit tense, and there’s no order or control in
the country. We, however, were not afraid, at least not
immediately.”
Archbishop Sako said he believes the gunmen had
the wrong target. Police suspect the attackers were
targeting a member of the Iraqi parliament who lives next
to the archbishop’s house and whose home also was
attacked Jan. 8, according to the Rome-based AsiaNews.
Archbishop Sako said the gunmen were from
Baghdad “ and, therefore, were not sure where to go. They found themselves facing our security guards and fired,
without knowing who they were shooting at.”
Three men in a white car shot at the residence
guards. The guards at the archbishop’s residence and the
parliamentarian’s house returned fire. Police nearby
intervened as well, the archbishop said.
Two of the three gunmen were killed, and one was
arrested.
Tags: Middle East Christians Iraqi Christians Violence against Christians Iraqi