UN urges swift probe after Baghdad election candidate killed

BAGHDAD — The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq condemned the bombing in Tarmiyah on Wednesday that killed Baghdad Provincial Council member and parliamentary candidate Safaa Al-Mashhadani, also known as Safaa Al-Hijazi.

He was killed when a vehicle he was traveling in was targeted north of the capital. Four others accompanying him were also injured in the explosion.

In a statement, UNAMI called on Iraqi authorities to “conduct a swift and transparent investigation to hold to account perpetrators of this crime.”

Following the blast, Prime Minister Al-Sudani ordered the formation of a joint forensic team and a high-level committee under the supervision of the Baghdad Operations Commander to investigate what his office described as the “martyrdom of candidate Safaa Al-Mashhadani.”

Meanwhile, the Baghdad Provincial Council has declared a three-day mourning period following the assassination of Al-Hijazi.

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.”

The Al-Siyada Alliance, the Sunni political bloc on which Al-Hijazi was running in the Nov. 11 vote, described the killing as “a continuation of the exclusion and treachery practiced by lawless armed groups.”