The Interior Ministry in Iraq said Thursday that two Iraqi police officers died and another four were injured as the forces tried to remove illegal houses in Baghdad’s southern Dora district.
The shooting came as the security forces moved to rid Dora district of structures in contravention of the law. The Rudaw channel quoted the Interior Ministry saying but it gave no details of who was responsible for the shooting.
The operation was carried out in a primarily farming area on the outskirts of Dora district where unauthorised construction has been reported. Iraqi authorities have recently been stepping up measures to demolish any illegally constructed houses and implement zoning laws to regulate construction throughout the capital.
Security forces sealed off the premises shortly after the shootings. While some officials in the interior ministry said the shooting happened between members of the security forces who reportedly fought among themselves over who should break the down houses but the security forces in that place didn’t comment on those claims.
Meanwhile, the shooting exposed the kind of dangers Iraqi security men face while conducting clearing operations in areas dominated by illegals as some locals view forcible breaking of those houses as an infringement on their rights over their land and could eventually escalate into violent confrontations between the two sides.
“An operation in that place came under fire. Military troops were killed, there was a policeman injured, and four municipality workers injured”, a member of Iraq’s security forces told AP.
Iraqi media meanwhile gave a similar report saying an army brigadier general was killed and the Baghdad municipality informed that they were asked by the court to remove illegal houses and had acted according to the order of the law.
