ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Unidentified gunmen assassinated an Iraqi intelligence officer in Baghdad’s Mansour district on Sunday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior published on Telegram channels affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic).
Lieutenant Colonel Mahmoud Laith Hussein died shortly after being transferred to al-Yarmouk hospital, according to the statement shared by the PMF-linked Sabreen News on Telegram.
Footage circulating on social media shows Hussein being shot in the head on Sunday night.
The assassination comes during a period of rising tension between the intelligence service and the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq ,who have previously threatened those working for the intelligence service.
Earlier in March, Qais al-Khazali, Secretary-General of the Iranian-backed militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq claimed in a tweet that he had reliable information that Iraq had brought in an Emirati security team to manage the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, after the transfer of 300 members of the intelligence service to border authorities.
The claims were denied by the intelligence service.
Sadiqoun bloc MP Hassan Salem, who represents the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia attacked the Iraqi intelligence service, saying that it should be "purified of the traitors" that coordinate with the United States. He called for the return of the transferred agency officers, who he described as "competent agents" with sensitive information about terrorists and "tools of sabotage within the demonstrations."
Asaib Ahl al-Haq is part of the PMF. The umbrella network of Shiite militia groups was formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) following a fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. A number of groups within its ranks are close to Iran, attack US positions throughout Iraq and are accused of committing human rights violations, including killing activists and protesters.
Little-known militia group Ashab al-Kahf issued a statement on its official Telegram channel Monday night, condemning the alleged transfer of intelligence officers and threatening to "humiliate" Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for his actions.
