American-Trained Iraqi guards open fire as migrants riot

Iraqi guards opened fire above the heads of 1,000 migrant workers who staged a mini-riot today in protest at their poor treatment in Baghdad and the prospect of being sent home without pay.

The men, from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, will be flown to Dubai after the Kuwaiti company that hired them failed to secure enough contract work at dining facilities inside a number of US military bases across Iraq. Their passports have also been taken.

“People are getting shot at,” said Manoj Kodithuwakku, a 28-year-old from Sri Lanka, speaking to The Times by mobile phone. The crack of bullets could be heard in the background. “It is pandemonium in here,” he said.

The men were flown to Baghdad over the past three months to work for Najlaa International Catering Services, which is a subcontractor to Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), a major service provider to the US Department of Defence. More