Police general killed as gunmen fire on demolition teams in Doura

BAGHDAD — A brigadier general and another member of the security forces were shot dead in southern Baghdad on Thursday when gunmen opened fire on police and municipal teams removing unauthorised buildings.

Brig. Gen. Hisham Mohammed Talaa, director of the Baghdad Municipality Police Department on the Karkh side, and security member Khalid Abbas Lafta were killed while accompanying the teams around Doura, Karara and Hayy Dijla, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said. Four people were wounded — a Federal Police member, two municipality police and a Baghdad Municipality employee — according to the Security Media Cell.

Reports of gunfire and casualties came in at about 10:45 a.m. in Karara, in Hayy Dijla, and officers sent to the scene found the demolition teams under direct fire. Baghdad Operations Command sealed the area and closed access points before a wide search. One suspect has been arrested and operations are continuing, the Security Media Cell said, and the Interior Ministry has formed an urgent security and intelligence team. Senior Deputy Interior Minister Hussein al-Awadi ordered authorities to “work with full force to reach the perpetrators, arrest them and bring them before the judiciary.”

Zaidi said attacks on institutions carrying out official duties would not deter the government from enforcing the law.