An image shows Safaa Al-Hijazi, a Baghdad Provincial Council member and parliamentary candidate, who was killed in a car bombing in Tarmiyah, north of the capital.
Calls for urgent investigation
Baghdad council declares three days of mourning after Safaa Al-Hijazi killed in car bombing
BAGHDAD — The Baghdad Provincial Council has declared a three-day mourning period following the assassination of council member Safaa Al-Hijazi on Wednesday morning in Tarmiyah, north of the capital.
Al-Hijazi was also a candidate in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, set to take place on November 11. He was killed in a car bombing. The blast injured four others in the vehicle.
Council Chairman Ammar Al-Hamdani said in a statement, “As the country prepares for a new democratic experience through the parliamentary elections, the political process loses one of its competent men and professional figures, the martyr Safaa Al-Hijazi, a selfless personality who stood against blind terrorism and the corruption that has undermined institutions.”
He announced the mourning period while calling for a swift and urgent investigation into the circumstances of the assassination.
The Al-Siyada Alliance, the Sunni political bloc on which Al-Hijazi was running in the Nov. 11 election, described the killing as “a continuation of the exclusion and treachery practiced by lawless armed groups.”
Al-Hamdani also held the Ministry of Interior responsible for failing to support council members with adequate protection, saying it had neglected to provide the necessary security reinforcements to ensure a safe working environment.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani ordered the formation of a joint forensic team and a high-level committee under the supervision of the Baghdad Operations Commander.