BAGHDAD – Insurgents wearing military uniforms stormed Iraq’s central bank Sunday during an apparent robbery attempt, battling security forces in a three-hour standoff after bombs exploded nearby in a coordinated daylight attack that left as many as 26 people dead.

The assault on Iraq’s top financial institution stoked fears that insurgents are taking advantage of political deadlock after inconclusive March 7 national elections to try to derail security gains as the United States prepares to withdraw its forces by the end of next year.

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Iraqi policemen prepare to secure the scene of a string of bombings near the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad on Sunday. Explosives-packed cars and roadside bombs killed dozens of people in an attack that targeted the Iraqi government’s central bank. The Associated Press

The 325-member parliament was due to convene today, but analysts have said agreement on a new government could still be months away.

Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi blamed the attack on al-Qaida in Iraq but said no money had been stolen from the bank, which holds gold deposits as well as U.S. and Iraqi currency.

The first bomb went off on the road near an electrical generator, al-Moussawi said. Insurgents wearing army uniforms then tried to enter the bank through two entrances, exchanging gunfire with the guards.

He said three suicide bombers detonated their explosives vests at the main entrance of the bank, while two other militants were killed by security forces at the second gate.

Iraqi security forces then stormed the building, prompting a standoff that lasted at least three hours, al-Moussawi said.

An unknown number of attackers managed to get to a higher floor and set a fire to burn some documents and may have escaped by blending in with the bank employees, he added, saying the motive appeared to be to steal the bank’s deposits, then blow up the building.

Police said a bomb in a parked car exploded about 900 yards from the bank. Al-Moussawi said 15 people were killed, but police and hospital officials later put the casualty toll at 26 dead and more than 60 wounded.

Violent robberies that bear some of the hallmarks of politically motivated attacks have been on the rise in Iraq, as sectarian violence ebbs. Officials have attributed at least some of them to cash-strapped militants desperately trying to raise money for their operations.

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