BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has ordered an “immediate” investigation into the killing of a senior military officer by “undisciplined individuals” at a checkpoint north of Baghdad.
Brig. Gen. Shareef Ismaeel Al-Murshidi, a brigade commander whose forces are tasked with protecting Abadi and Baghdad’s Green Zone, was shot dead Tuesday at a checkpoint outside Samarra. State-sanctioned Shiite militias play a large role in securing the town, which is home to a major Shiite shrine.
The statement issued by Abadi’s office late Tuesday did not provide further details about the incident.
Two police officers in Samarra said the three-vehicle convoy ignored orders to stop at two checkpoints. When it reached a third checkpoint an exchange of fire erupted between the convoy on one side and militiamen and Federal Police on the other. The militiamen belonged to the so-called Peace Brigades, led by Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr.
Two of Al-Murshidi’s guards were also killed, while four others were wounded, they said. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.
On Wednesday, Iraqi state TV aired the official funeral in the Green Zone, which Abadi attended along with the slain officer’s relatives. Al-Sadr has sent a delegation to Samarra to investigate the incident.
When Daesh militants swept across northern and western Iraq in mid-2014, tens of thousands of Shiite men answered a call-to-arms by the country’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, to defend the nation. They played a key role in a number of battles against Daesh, which has since been driven from nearly all the territory it once ruled.
Today the militias number in the tens of thousands and are deployed across the country to maintain security, alongside the army and police.
Iraqi PM orders probe into killing of officer at checkpoint
Iraqi PM orders probe into killing of officer at checkpoint
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
