Azzaman, November 20, 2014
Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped and then killed an Iraqi army officer with the rank of Lt. Gen., sources said.
The sources, refusing to be named for security reasons, said the gunmen broke into Lt. Gen. Tajudeen Jaafar’s house in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and took him away.
“The gunmen abducted the general from his home in the Baghdad neighborhood of Rustamiya. His body was found only two hours after the incident was reported,” one source said.
The source said the gunmen had dumped Jaafar’s body on a street close to a nursery in the district of Mashtal.
Another source said gunmen driving a civilian car opened fire on a police vehicle, killing a senior police.
The source said the incident took place at Salaman Pak, a town in the outskirts of Baghdad which was the scene of ferocious fighting with Islamic State militants a few weeks ago.
The authorities are investigating both incidents, the sources said.
Violence has returned to Baghdad with almost daily car bomb attacks in the wake of impressive military successes by the Islamic State in June.
Islamic State militants currently control large swathes of the country, including major cities in northwestern areas.
While the government and the media report major bombings, assassinations and crime incidents mainly fuelled by sectarian strife are rarely covered.
