By Xinhua
Baghdad : Iraqi security forces on Monday seized contractors of a foreign security company after they opened fire in central Baghdad, wounding a woman, an Interior Ministry source said.
About 30 to 40 security guards and the personnel of a foreign company they were escorting had been detained, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Among the detained are two American contractors. The guards are Asians and Iraqis, he said, adding that their identifications are subject to further confirmation.
The incident took place in the afternoon when the foreign and Iraqi security contractors of a construction company opened gunfire at a crowded road in Karradah neighborhood to find their way out of the traffic jam, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
A woman was wounded by their fire, prompting the Iraqi security forces in the area to surround the convoy of the company and arrested all the employees and their security contractors, the source said.
Angry bystanders at the spot threw stones on the arrested people, the source added.
Late in October, the Iraqi government approved a law to deprive foreign security firms of immunity following several random shootings on Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. But the draft law is yet to be approved by the Iraqi parliament.