The suspected gunman, left, following his arrest, and Brig. Gen. Hisham Mohammed Talaa, right, who was killed during an operation to remove unauthorized structures in Baghdad’s Doura area.
Suspect held over killing of Baghdad police general after days of conflicting accounts
BAGHDAD — Security forces have arrested the man suspected of shooting dead a brigadier general and another member of the security forces during a demolition operation in southern Baghdad, the Security Media Cell said Saturday, after three days in which officials gave contradictory accounts of whether he was already in custody.
Chief Saad Maan said the arrest followed “intensive technical and field efforts” by intelligence units, without saying who the suspect is or where he was caught.
The Security Media Cell had announced the arrest of one suspect on Thursday, hours after the shooting, and Baghdad Municipality and several officials announced an arrest again on Friday. That same day Abdul Amir al-Shammari, director of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, told 964media that operations were still under way and the suspect would be caught “very soon.”
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 gunfire hit security forces and municipal staff clearing unauthorised structures around Doura, Karara and Hayy Dijla. Four others were wounded.
At Talaa’s funeral gathering on Friday at Bait Buniya Mosque in the Allawi area, his family called on Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to prosecute the killer, enforce state control over weapons and deal with encroached land. Zaidi had ordered security agencies to tighten measures around the site and pursue everyone involved, saying attacks on institutions carrying out official duties would not deter the government from enforcing the law.