Iraq arrests four over killing of policemen in Baghdad clashes
Iraq on Friday announced four arrests over the killing of two police officers in Baghdad, as the government tries to assert authority before a deadline to bring all weapons under state control.
Brig Gen Hisham Muhammad Talla, a police chief in Baghdad’s Karkh district, and fellow officer Khalid Abbas Lafta were killed on Thursday when their team came under fire as they tried to clear the Dora area of squatters.
The killing of a senior officer highlights the serious issue of illegal housing in Iraq. The Dora neighbourhood in southern Baghdad consists of large agricultural areas where unauthorised construction is not uncommon.
But it also comes at a particularly sensitive time for the government as it embarks on a campaign to disarm Iran-linked militias that have dragged Iraq into the regional war. There have been suggestions that the killers in Dora used heavy weapons and were linked to the militias, although these are unconfirmed.
If heavy weaponry was used, this could suggest militia involvement, an Iraqi official told The National. “The country is attempting to crack down on corruption and unlicensed weapons and bring those militias under state control,” he said.
Arrests made
The Interior Ministry said on Friday that it had arrested four people in connection with the killings. Arrest warrants have been issued against several suspects and “the pursuit for others continues”, ministry spokesman Maj Gen Miqdad Miri said.
“Legal action will be taken against everyone who violated the law in those areas,” he said. “Whoever is proven to be involved in anything will be arrested.”
The death of the high-ranking officer during the confrontation “reveals the severe risks involved and potential for escalation when law enforcement confronts armed and organised settlers”, the spokesman added.
The incident also indicates an urgent need for policy reforms to better manage urban land disputes, protect property rights and foster peaceful coexistence, said the Iraqi official.
Land ownership in Iraq is closely linked to some of the country’s armed groups. Since 2003, militia groups and political affiliates have seized agricultural land. The Dora area of Baghdad has long been associated with such illegal seizures, with militia-linked individuals benefiting from the properties.
The area has also been the scene of armed confrontations involving armed groups. Earlier this month, Iraqi police arrested four people and seized weapons from two “fake” offices during an operation in the farms of Dora area. Local media at the time linked the sites to armed factions.
The area, known as “Dora Lands”, were former properties of Saddam Hussein which were seized by militia groups in 2003, a report by the Washington Institute in 2023 found. Parts of the land were illegally sold to citizens in the area. The report added that Iran-backed groups such as Kataib Hezbollah have set up prisons and cells in the area, or have used them as a base for rockets.
Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi said the officers were killed “while performing their national and professional duty … in enforcing the law and maintaining order”.
“They were killed at the hands of treachery and outlaws,” he said.
Mr Al Zaidi has vowed that September 30 is the deadline for armed groups to hand over their weapons to the state. The timetable is closely linked to the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, with the government billing it as “an Iraqi national celebration and the completion of Iraqi sovereignty”.
The government said this week that it is committed to regulating weapons and ensuring they fall under the authority of the state and its official security institutions.