ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered the immediate opening of investigations into the killing of the head of his security detail.
“Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Haider al-Abadi has ordered the immediate opening of investigation into the incident of the martyrdom of major general of the 57th division of the Special Forces Brig. Gen. Ismael Shareef,” reads a statement from Iraq’s Security Media Center, formerly called the War Media Cell.
The brigadier general was killed on Tuesday after being shot by “undisciplined members” at checkpoints at the entrance of the city of Samarra in Saladin province about 125 kilometers north of Baghdad.
"Clashes broke out with fighters from Saraya al-Salam," a group loyal to prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, a security source said, after a verbal altercation spiraled out of control, reported AFP.
The general was heading back to Baghdad after he had visited the Nineveh province for a trip planned for Wednesday by Abadi.
"The general was killed and three of his men were wounded," the source told AFP.
The firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has been fiercely opposed to the Iraqi government and has headed almost regular protests against Abadi’s government on Fridays. The cleric lashed out at Abadi for forming an election bloc with Hashd al-Shabi affiliated parties.
Recently many Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi fighters and civilians have been killed allegedly by ISIS between the Kirkuk, Diyala and Baghdad roads.
A Christian family was stabbed to death this week in Baghdad.
Iraq's parliamentary elections will be held on May 12.
