Officials: US aid worker shot dead in Baghdad in rare attack

By Qassim Abdul-zahra

Assailants shot dead an American aid worker in Baghdad on Monday in a rare killing of a foreigner in the Iraqi capital in recent years, two police officials said.

The man was shot in his car as he entered the street where he lives in the central Karrada district on the east bank of the Tigris River but the reason for the killing was not immediately clear, they said. They said the man’s wife and child were in the car with him but were not hurt.

The officials said as the man drove through his street, a car cut him off and assailants in another car shot him dead. It was not immediately clear if the assailants were trying to kidnap the man, they said.

According to documents seen by The Associated Press, the man had been renting an apartment in Karrada’s Wahda area since May last year.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing.

U.S. Embassy officials when contacted by The Associated Press said they had only just heard about the shooting and had no information.

Two security officials confirmed a U.S. citizen who worked for an international aid organization had been killed without giving his name. They said details were scarce but an investigation was underway. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Such attacks against individuals in the Iraqi capital have been rare since the defeat of the Islamic State group in the country in 2017 but rockets are sometimes fired toward the U.S. Embassy.

U.S.-led coalition forces recently ended their combat mission in Iraq but continue to play an advisory role to Iraqi forces in the fight against IS.