Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Baghdad

Senior PMF leader shot dead near his house in Babylon

 Senior PMF leader shot dead near his house in Babylon

Iraqi security forces launch a major operation to stem out IS cells

Iraqi security forces launch a major operation to stem out IS cells

Babylon (Iraqinews.com) – A senior leader with al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) was killed on Tuesday in a shooting incident near his house in Babylon governorate, a security source was quoted as saying.

In an exclusive interview with Baghdad Today, the source said, “Unidentified gunmen killed Amjad al-Jabouri, a senior leader with the Shiite Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq group, after opening fire at him near his house at al-Haswa area in Babylon.”

“One of Jabouri’s companions was injured in the shooting,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

“The assassins fled the scene immediately after the attack,” the source added, noting that security forces carried the dead body to the forensic medicine department, while the injured was moved to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Popular Mobilization Forces, an alliance of volunteer Shiite paramilitary forces, have actively backed the Iraqi government’s military campaign against IS since 2014, when they were formed upon a top Shiite clergy edict to counter the Sunni Jihadist group.

PMF won official recognition as a national force late 2016, becoming under the command of the prime minister, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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