Iraqi journalist shot, US forces accused
An Iraqi television director has allegedly been shot dead by US troops after driving near a military convoy in Baghdad, according to colleagues and a hospital official.
Ahmad Wail Bakri, a programme director for al-Sharqiya television, was reportedly trying to pass a traffic accident in the Sayyidiyya district on Tuesday when troops allegedly opened fire at his car, according to Riyadh al-Salman, a director of production at the station.
The US military said it had no immediate reports of the incident, but most US military convoys, which are often targets for attack, have signs on the rear vehicles warning drivers and people to keep their distance.
Bakri, who was in his 30s, also worked for al-Iraqiya television, according to his colleagues at both stations. He had been on his way to visit his in-laws at the time of the shooting, al-Salman said.
The French watchdog organisation Reporters Without Borders has called for an investigation into Bakri’s death.
More reporters killed
On Sunday, Maha Ibrahim, a news editor with the local Baghdad TV channel, was killed when she was allegedly shot when US troops opened fire after they apparently came under attack in a Baghdad neighbourhood, channel director Saad al-Bayati said.
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Iraqi police lead away detainees |
Ibrahim and her husband were on their way to the station, owned by the Iraqi Islamic party. When asked on Tuesday, the US military had no immediate response.
On Friday, another Iraqi reporter working for an American news organisation was shot and killed in Baghdad allegedly by US troops after he apparently did not respond to a shouted signal from a military convoy, witnesses said.
The military had no comment at the time. Earlier this month, an Iraqi reporter working for the Dubai-based television network Al-Arabiya was seriously wounded in an apparent kidnapping attempt.
Iraq round-up
The latest shooting follows the death of an Iraqi demonstrator in Baghdad after police opened fire on stone-throwing protesters earlier on Tuesday. Six other civilians and four police were also wounded.
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A relative of Dhari Ali al-Fayadh |
Around 20,000 demonstrators had been demanding jobs in the police force. Troops later arrested about 20 people.
Another Iraqi civilian was also killed in the capital’s al-Yarmuk district after getting caught up in the crossfire after US troops and insurgents fought a gunbattle on Tuesday morning.
A car bomb in the same district killed a US soldier and wounded another, according to a military statement while two Iraqi policeman were killed by unknown assailants in western Baghdad.
Officials killed
And a local council member from the Mansur district, Shakir Abd al-Fatah was also shot dead on Tuesday as was Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, his son and three bodyguards was they travelled in a convoy to the northern outskirts of the capital, according to police.
And Iraqi police office Lieutenant Yasin Muhammad told journalists that three bombs in Baquba that targeted a US military base and a police station had killed a civilian and wounded seven more.
Meanwhile, a bomber dressed in police uniform blew himself up at a police guard station in the town of Musayyib, 70km south of Baghdad. Police in Babel province say three people were killed and 13 wounded.
And in the north of the country in Mosul, two bodyguards were killed and six people wounded in a remote-control car bomb attack targeting the head of the traffic police in the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
However, police Colonel Salar Mohammed survived the assassination attempt, police sources said.