AT LEAST 52 PEOPLE were killed yesterday when security forces attempted to raid a Baghdad church to free over 100 hostages trapped inside.

Gunmen seized the Catholic church during Sunday mass yesterday, according to Reuters, and demanded the release of al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt.

A website allegedly run by al Qaeda-linked militant group the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.

Deputy interior minister Hussein Kamal said that 67 other people were wounded, and the number of dead did not include the attackers.

One hostage who survived the incident told Reuters: ”While I was trying to find my way out, in the dark, I walked over bodies. There are many bodies there.”

Officials said that the gunmen threw grenades or detonated explosive vests during the security forces’ raid. At least one car bomb went off outside the church at the start of the siege.

Iraqi member of parliament Younadam Kana blamed the deaths on the raid, saying:

This operation hits at the credibility of the government and its ability to handle, preserve and impose security and the enforcement of law.

Because of their lack of professionalism, and the hasty action taken by security forces in freeing the hostages, many innocent people were killed.

The New York Times reports that Iraq’s anti-terrorist forces have been criticised for their failure at preventing attacks, moved quickly to end the hostage situation, but were blocked by the gunmen.

Police arrested eight gunmen believed to be part of the Islamic State of Iraq group, according to the NYT. They had initially attacked the stock exchange across the street, before moving into the church, and authorities have yet to determine which was the main target.

Pope Benedict XVI condemned the “ferocious violence” and said that two priests were killed in the siege, the BBC reports.

[caption id="attachment_41171" align="alignnone" width="511" caption="Victim's remains are carried out of Our Lady of Deliverance church the morning after its congregation was taken hostage in Baghdad, Iraq, 1 November, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)"][/caption]