Thirty-seven people taken hostage by militants in a Baghdad church were killed and 56 wounded in a drama that was ended when US and Iraqi forces stormed the building, a government official said Monday.
"The latest toll is that 37 of the hostages were killed and 56 wounded," an Iraqi interior ministry official said after Sunday's attack on the church, claimed by an Al-Qaeda group.
He said that seven security forces personnel also were killed and 15 wounded, but did not specify if any were Americans.
Five attackers were killed and eight arrested, he said, adding that there had been more than 100 worshippers at the Sayidat al-Nejat church in central Baghdad when the hostage-takers stormed in.
The SITE monitoring group said on Monday that the Al-Qaeda group was behind the Islamic State of Iraq.