BAGHDAD: Doctors will be allowed to carry guns to protect themselves after being so often targeted in attacks since the 2003 US-led invasion, the government said yesterday.
The government also took a step toward building high-security residential compounds inside and outside hospitals for physicians, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s Cabinet said in a statement. It directed the Health Ministry to start working with local authorities to plan the constructions.
The moves come as Iraq is struggling to persuade doctors who have fled the violence to return to help ease a shortage of medical workers.
