Iraqi PM orders inquiry into killing of officer
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi has ordered an immediate investigation into the killing of a senior military officer by “undisciplined individuals” at a checkpoint north of Baghdad.
Brig Gen Shareef Al Murshidi, a brigade commander whose forces are responsible for protecting Mr Al Abadi and Baghdad’s Green Zone, was shot dead on Tuesday at a checkpoint outside Samarra.
State-sanctioned Shiite militias play a large role in securing the town, which is home to a major Shiite shrine.
The statement issued by Mr Al Abadi’s office did not provide further details about the incident.
Two police officers in Samarra said the three-vehicle convoy ignored orders to stop at two checkpoints. When it reached a third checkpoint an exchange of fire took place between the convoy on one side and militiamen and Federal Police on the other. The militiamen belonged to the so-called Peace Brigades, led by Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.
Two of Al Murshidi’s guards were killed, while four others were wounded, they said. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures.
On Wednesday, Iraqi state TV broadcast the official funeral, which Mr Al Abadi attended with the dead officer’s relatives. Mr Al Sadr has sent a delegation to Samarra to investigate the incident.
When ISIL swept across north and west Iraq in mid-2014, tens of thousands of Shiite men answered a call to arms by the country’s senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, to defend the nation. They played a key role in several battles against ISIL, which has since been driven from nearly all the territory it once ruled.
Today, the militias number in the tens of thousands and are deployed across the country to maintain security, alongside the army and police.