Updated: Commander denies Policeman killed in Mosul
Representational photo.
Speaking to Alghad Press, Maj. Gen. Wathiq al-Hamdani, commander of Nineveh police, said, “news outlets circulated that a policeman was killed in Mosul. I would like to confirm that such news are untrue as no policeman was killed in Mosul.”
“I urge news agencies and satellite channels to stick to ethics and credibility while circulating news,” he added.
Earlier on the day a security source was quoted saying that a policeman was killed in an armed attack in Mosul.
“Unidentified gunmen killed a lieutenant general from the local police in al-Zuhour district, as he was going to a store,” the source told SNG website. “The gunmen escaped to unknown destination.”
“Local police transferred the victim to the forensic medicine department.Security cordoned off the region and launched a campaign to search for the perpetrators,” the source added.
Despite declaring the victory over IS in Mosul, the group’s former bastion in Iraq, observers say IS is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared, in July, victory over IS militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014. More than 25000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.
114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), issued on Wednesday.
Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, coming in the first place with 177 civilian casualties (38 killed, 139 injured). Anbar province followed with 36 killed and 55 injured, and then Kirkuk with 18 killed and 33 injured.