Prominent Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Survives Assassination Attempt in Southern Iraq

Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
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Prominent Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Survives Assassination Attempt in Southern Iraq

Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)
Asaib Ahl al-Haq member Ziad al-Oujaili. (Iraq’s 964 media)

A prominent member of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq survived on Sunday an assassination attempt in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar governorate.

Ziad al-Oujaili told local media that assailants on a motorcycle tossed a bag containing an explosive under his vehicle.

He said he was only four meters away from the car when it went off.

He escaped unscathed and the car was destroyed.

Police are now investigating the incident, he added.

The Asaib Ahl al-Haq has risen to prominence in recent years, especially after the rise to power of the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework of which it is a part of.

Just years ago it was a minor faction that only boasted one member at parliament. The faction was initially formed after it defected from the Sadrist movement of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Now, the Asaib Ahl al-Haq enjoys 15 MPs at parliament and it occupies important ministerial positions, including the post of minister of education, and public positions throughout central and southern Iraq.

Assassination attempts are usually tied to partisan disputes over the governance of provinces, rivalry over economic projects or disputes between clans.

Dhi Qar has been tense over the arrest of Coordination Framework member Ammar al-Rikabi on Wednesday on charges of running an online extortion network.



Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
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Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)

Israeli forces killed five armed Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials or armed groups. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of only four men.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that Israeli special forces had opened fire on a vehicle that the men were travelling in, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. At least six people were wounded, two of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.