World News | Officials: US Aid Worker Shot Dead in Baghdad in Rare Attack
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Assailants shot dead an American aid worker in Baghdad on Monday in a rare killing of a foreigner in the Iraqi capital in recent years, two police officials said.
Baghdad, Nov 8 (AP) Assailants shot dead an American aid worker in Baghdad on Monday in a rare killing of a foreigner in the Iraqi capital in recent years, two police officials said.
The man was shot in his car as he entered the street where he lives in the central Karrada district on the east bank of the Tigris River but the reason for the killing was not immediately clear, they said. They said the man's wife and child were in the car with him but were not hurt.
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The officials said as the man drove through his street, a car cut him off and assailants in another car shot him dead. It was not immediately clear if the assailants were trying to kidnap the man, they said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the department is aware of the reports of the killing of a US aid worker in Baghdad and is looking into them. But, he said the department was not yet in a position to confirm the accounts of the death or that the person was a US citizen.
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According to documents seen by The Associated Press, the man had been renting an apartment in Karrada's Wahda area since May last year.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing.
US Embassy officials when contacted by The Associated Press said they had only just heard about the shooting and had no information.
Two security officials confirmed a US citizen who worked for an international aid organization had been killed without giving his name. They said details were scarce but an investigation was underway. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Such attacks against individuals in the Iraqi capital have been rare since the defeat of the Islamic State group in the country in 2017 but rockets are sometimes fired toward the US Embassy.
In the early years that followed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, such attacks were common. In 2004, two Americans were kidnapped in Baghdad and extremists later released videos showing their beheading.
The attack came after Iraq's new Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was given a vote of confidence by parliament in late October. Al-Sudani was named by the Iran-backed Coordination Framework, composed largely of Shiite parties. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)