Senior Iraqi National Intelligence Officer Gunned down in Baghdad

Arab World

June 8th, 7:23am

Baghdad, London – Asharq Al-Awsat

An Iraqi officer during a guard shift with the heavily fortified Green Zone in the background in Baghdad on Sunday. (EPA)

Unidentified gunmen killed on Monday a senior officer of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, marking the second time a member of the vital agency is targeted in the past few months. The officer’s assassination follows a wider murder campaign taking down popular activists for the last 24 months. So far, no official statement about the findings of the ongoing investigation was made. Perpetrators of the attack are likely still at large. However, the INIS identified the slain officer as Nibras Farman Chaaban and had served at the rank of a colonel under the alias “Abu Ali.” It condemned his murder, saying he was killed by a “cowardly and treacherous operation” in a “desperate bid to stop him from carrying out his duties.” According to the statement, Chaaban “tried resisting the assailants by exchanging fire.” Despite fighting back, a gunman in a pickup managed fatally shot the officer with a Kalashnikov rifle. Moreover, the INIS stressed that Chaaban’s assassination was aimed at “dissuading the agency from carrying out its duties.” It described Chaaban as an exemplary model in terms of dedication and sincerity in serving Iraq and its people. The INIS reaffirmed that Chaaban played a prominent role in combating terrorism and organized crime throughout his years of service and vowed to punish the culprits and continue fighting the “enemies of Iraq.” In March, unidentified gunmen assassinated Mohammed Laith, another officer of the INIS, in the Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad. The string of assassinations of security officers and civil activists took place despite repeated calls by the government and some political parties to contain the uncontrolled possession of weapons by some armed groups in the country.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3015576/senior-iraqi-national-intelligence-officer-gunned-down-baghdad