A journalist stands near archive newspapers burned during an attack on the offices of al-Dustour al-Jadida newspaper, in Baghdad. Photograph: Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters
Gunmen in military uniforms burst into the offices of four independent newspapers in Baghdad, stabbing and beating employees, staff and officials said. One editor said he recognised the attackers as members of a Shia militia, adding that the raids came after his newspaper published an article criticising a prominent hardline cleric.
The attacks underscored the dangers facing the media in Iraq, one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters.
About 50 assailants participated in the co-ordinated attack on Monday evening, said Bassam al-Sheikh and Ali al-Daraji, two editors of newspapers whose offices were attacked.
The raiders attacked reporters with batons and knives and smashed computers and furniture in the offices of Sheikh's newspaper, al-Dustour al-Jadida, the editor said. Daraji said the attackers who came to his newspaper, al-Mustaqila, smashed windows and set fire to a car. "It was so horrifying that we could not do anything," he said.
A health official said four newspaper staffers were treated in hospital for stab wounds and another was badly beaten. Police said an investigation was under way.
Sheikh said that he recognised the attackers as militant Shiia belonging to a hardline group headed by cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi. He said during the attack they berated him for publishing an article in his paper accusing Sarkhi of trying to dominate the holy city of Kerbala.
Sarkhi's office was not available for comment.
The city, 55 miles south of Baghdad, is home to two revered Shiia shrines. In the last decade it has witnessed power struggles between Shia militias.
"The message of the assailants was to shut mouths," al-Sheikh said. "This is a dangerous precedent," he said.
Daraji said they had run a similar story, but also published a response from the Shia cleric's office. He said the assailants did not say anything during the raid, and he did not know why the newspaper was attacked.
The two other attacked offices belonged to al-Parliman and al-Nas.
The four newspapers are considered medium-sized to small. The largest, al-Dustour, claims a run of 12,000 copies daily.
Iraq is ranked among the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Hundreds were killed in the country since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
But such attacks have been less common of late. The last major attack on reporters was the killing of a television presenter Ghazwan Anas in July 2012, who worked for a channel in the predominantly Sunni northern city of Mosul.