Iraq gov’t probing attack on Iranians

A top diplomat says the Iraqi government has formed an investigation committee to probe into the Friday attack on a group of Iranian pipeline workers in the country.

According to Press TV, Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Danaifar on Saturday said the committee set up on the orders of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki comprises high-ranking Iraqi military and security officials.
The diplomat said at least 16 Iranian engineers and workers were martyred in the attack and their bodies have been transferred to a morgue in the northwestern Iraqi city of Khanaqin.
He added the attack also claimed the lives of four Iraqi workers.
On Friday night, gunmen in three cars opened fire with machine guns on a group of gas pipeline workers in the al-Nida area, about 145 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. The pipeline is planned to connect Iraq’s gas network to energy reserves in the western Iranian city of Naft Shahr.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack and said an investigation had been launched to determine the full circumstances of the terrorist act.