Inside the secret operation behind Iraq’s Green Zone corruption raids

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s anti-corruption operation inside Baghdad’s Green Zone was planned in near-total secrecy, with only a small circle of commanders told in advance, personnel ordered to hand over their phones the day before, and the targets themselves revealed only as forces moved into position, security and political sources told 964media.

Preparations ran for several days, but the sources said the final 48 hours were the most sensitive. The pre-dawn deployment of armor and troops set off widespread speculation across Baghdad before the government identified it, hours later, as a corruption sweep it has named “Dawn Strike.”

A senior security source said Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi convened a closed meeting with senior Counter Terrorism Service officers and commanders of the army’s 9th Armored Division, chosen, the source said, for their discipline and ability to keep the mission quiet. Zaidi told them the assignment was exceptional and that nothing was to leak.

About 24 hours before the raids, members of the force surrendered their personal phones, the source said. Commanders were given their specific targets only shortly before moving in, after search sites had been mapped across several parts of the city. The operation began around 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 28, and ran until sunrise.

Political sources said Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi had flown to Cairo on Friday evening for Arab Parliament meetings as preparations entered their final stage. He had been told only in general terms that judicial measures requiring the lifting of immunity for several lawmakers were pending, the sources said, not the full scope of what was coming, and after returning to Baghdad late Saturday he left the matter to First Deputy Speaker Adnan Fayhan.

The operation went beyond arrests. Investigators also searched homes and offices belonging to people not themselves wanted, looking for documents, cash and other evidence, a security source said. Among the properties searched was the home of former Finance Minister Taif Sami, who was not on the arrest list and at whose home, the source said, investigators found nothing tied to the case. Sami’s office on Monday denied rumors she had been detained or had fled the country.

Several suspects slipped away before forces arrived. One escaped through a network of tunnels built beneath a residence, leading to exits prepared in advance, the source said, and remains at large. Security agencies were placed on heightened alert at Baghdad International Airport to stop suspects leaving the country.

The case has centered on former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili, whose detention this month over alleged oil-sector financial irregularities widened into an investigation reaching lawmakers and senior officials. Of the 11 lawmakers named in the latest judicial measures, nine were identified through the Jumaili inquiry, a source familiar with the investigation said, while Mohammed al-Karbouli and Hassan al-Khafaji face separate, unrelated cases.

Investigators believe the cash recovered from Jumaili’s home was unlikely to be entirely his, the source said, suggesting some may have been held for others or moved through money-laundering channels. Interviews with Jumaili have produced more than 100 names, according to the source, who said Jumaili kept wide relationships across the political spectrum. Not all of those named face warrants or proceedings, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

Hamid Mohammed, a member of parliament’s Integrity Committee, said the inquiry was still early. “What is happening is not merely a series of isolated arrests, but part of a broad investigative effort that is still in its early stages,” he told 964media. “The public has not yet seen more than the visible part of the file.”

The account fills in Sunday’s operation, when armored vehicles, tanks and Counter Terrorism Service units sealed the Green Zone, the fortified district housing Iraq’s main government institutions, parliament and foreign embassies, before coordinated raids began.

Accounts of the scale still diverge. The state news agency reported 47 current and former officials arrested and published 15 names it said were detained on the basis of Jumaili’s confessions, while government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi said Monday that 21 had been arrested with others still at large. The Federal Integrity Commission, a state body, has confirmed it is executing judicial warrants but released no names or total. 964media could not independently verify the figures.

Zaidi has called the campaign only its “first phase.” On Monday the government said it would set up a dedicated treasury account for recovered assets and described the operation as a purely Iraqi effort with no foreign involvement.