BAGHDAD, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Iraqi police stormed a church taken over by suspected al Qaeda-linked gunmen on Sunday and released the Catholic hostages that had been held inside, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

“The operation has finished and we released all the hostages,” said Brigadier General Ali Ibrahim, commander of the federal police in southeastern Baghdad. U.S. military officials, who watched the rescue operation from cameras in hovering helicopters, confirmed the report.

Younadam Kana, a Christian lawmaker, said that parishioners who had called him from inside the church had estimated that the gunmen had taken more than 50 hostages. (Reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Muhanad Mohammed; Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Alison Williams)