Security forces step up land patrols after officers shot dead

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces have increased deployments in areas where state land has been encroached on, the Security Media Cell said Friday, a day after gunmen shot dead a brigadier general and another member of the security forces as municipal teams demolished unauthorised buildings in Baghdad.

The measures include more patrols where encroachments have occurred, continuous field monitoring and coordination with government bodies on legal action, chief Saad Maan told the Iraqi News Agency, and are meant to “prevent new encroachments or the expansion of existing encroachments.”

“Encroachment on government land is fundamentally a criminal act and is condemned by law,” he said. “The use of weapons, threats or force to prevent security forces or the relevant authorities from performing their legal duties is a criminal act that requires legal action against its perpetrators.” Removals would continue under established legal procedures, he said.

Brig. Gen. Hisham Mohammed Talaa, who directed the Baghdad Municipality Police Department on the Karkh side, and security member Khalid Abbas Lafta were killed on Thursday when the demolition teams came under direct fire in Karara, in Hayy Dijla, at about 10:45 a.m. Four people were wounded — a Federal Police member, two municipality police and a municipality employee. The Interior Ministry has formed an urgent security and intelligence team, with Senior Deputy Interior Minister Hussein al-Awadi ordering authorities to “work with full force to reach the perpetrators, arrest them and bring them before the judiciary.”