US aid worker shot dead in front of wife and child in Baghdad
A US aid worker has been shot dead in Baghdad in a rare killing of a foreigner on Iraqi soil, officials said.
The man was shot in his car as he entered the street where he lived in Baghdad’s central Karrada district, reported Associated Press (AP) quoting police officials.
A car cut him off as he drove through the street and assailants shot him dead.
Officials said that the reason behind his killing is not known yet. It is also not clear whether the assailants were attempting to kidnap him.
The man’s wife and child were also in the car but were not injured in the attack, they said.
Two security officials have confirmed to AP that a US citizen who worked for an international aid organisation had been killed.
The death was also confirmed by a medical worker at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, where the victim was taken. The medical worker said he was dead on arrival.
Ned Price, US state department spokesperson, said the department was aware of the reports of the killing of the aid worker and was looking into the details.
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.
Iraq’s prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that a committee will be formed to “investigate the circumstances of the killing of an American citizen in the capital.”
The committee will include the interior ministry and various security agencies, he said.
Such attacks were common in the years following US’ invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Two US citizens were kidnapped and beheaded in 2004 in Baghdad.
US-led coalition forces recently ended their mission in Iraq but continue to play an advisory role to Iraqi forces in the fight against ISIS.
(Additional reporting by agencies)
