[News] The first comment from the Iraqi government on the killing of an American in Baghdad

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Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani said today, Tuesday, that the timing of the killing of an American citizen in Baghdad bears question marks, stressing that the security file is a red line.

Al-Sudani added - in a press conference, commenting on the killing of the American in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad yesterday evening - that the government's test with the security file is a "failed option", according to what was reported by the Iraqi News Agency.

The Prime Minister ordered an investigation into the incident, and pledged to reach the perpetrators as soon as possible.

 

For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is following up the progress of investigations to uncover the circumstances of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Iraqi security forces stand guard outside the hospital where the body of a U.S. citizen who was killed in Baghdad is being held
Security forces guard a hospital in Baghdad to which the dead American was transferred (Reuters)
An armed faction calling itself "Saraya Ahl al-Kahf" claimed responsibility for the killing of the American, who Iraqi media said was an employee of a non-governmental relief organization, while other sources said that he worked as an English language teacher.

 

 

This faction said that it targeted the American in retaliation for the former Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Po[CENSORED]r Mobilization, who were killed in an American raid near Baghdad airport in early 2020.

According to the Iraqi police, the American was shot dead after a failed attempt to kidnap him by gunmen while he was driving his car in the Karrada neighborhood.

The US State Department confirmed the death of its citizen, named Stephen Edward Troel, and added that it was monitoring the Iraqi investigations into the incident.

 

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