Afghanistan's president is vowing to eliminate all safe havens of the ISIL as the country marks a subdued th Independence Day after a horrific wedding attack claimed by the local ISIL affiliate. Turkey's calendar-adjusted retail sales volume with constant prices narrowed by 1. Death toll in Baghdad brothel raid rises to News World July 14 Gunmen stormed two buildings in Baghdad's residential district of Zayouna, known in the area for housing rented flats where a notorious pimp kept a "stable" of up to 60 women.
Photographs taken soon after the killings on Saturday evening showed a man, identified by police sources as the pimp, lying dead in a pool of blood alongside one of his presumed henchmen. The pair, the only male victims of the raid, appeared to have had their hands tied behind their backs before being executed. Another picture shows the crouching bodies of five women huddled together in a corner of a bathroom with blood-spattered tiled walls and floor, in what seemed to have been a desperate attempt to hide from their attackers.
Another shows bodies, some wearing bright colours, others dressed in black, lined up in a living room, the floor of which was drenched with blood. Access to the only street leading to buildings 43 and 44, where the killings took place, is usually overseen by police and soldiers. Residents say the pimp, who went by the name of Aws, was a powerful figure in the neighbourhood who would bribe security officers and was able to run his business from the same compound for years.
Such punitive raids are not uncommon in Zayouna, but Saturday's was the deadliest in years. It was not immediately clear who the killers were. Most residents were afraid to speak, with religious militiamen having become even more prominent in Baghdad since a jihadist-led onslaught launched last month exacerbated sectarian tensions and pushed Iraq to the brink of disintegration.
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