2 Majors, Lieutenant Accused of Killing Protesters in Baghdad

Two Iraqis are pictured on July 27, 2020, at the spot where a protest tent was burned the previous night in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP
Two Iraqis are pictured on July 27, 2020, at the spot where a protest tent was burned the previous night in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP
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2 Majors, Lieutenant Accused of Killing Protesters in Baghdad

Two Iraqis are pictured on July 27, 2020, at the spot where a protest tent was burned the previous night in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP
Two Iraqis are pictured on July 27, 2020, at the spot where a protest tent was burned the previous night in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP

The Iraqi Judiciary arrested on Thursday three security officers, including two majors and a lieutenant, on charges of killing protesters in central Baghdad early this week, using hunting rifles.

Iraqi Interior Minister Othman Al-Ghanemi revealed the news in a press conference held in the capital. He gave the names of the policemen and displayed the arms and ammunition they had used.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had ordered the country’s security forces to investigate the deaths of several anti-government protesters in central Baghdad on Monday.

“The two martyrs fell as a result of the use of personal hunting rifles by two officers of the rank of a major, a lieutenant, and an associate, and that Major Ahmed Salam Khadir admitted using his personal weapon," Ghanemi said in a press conference.

He added that during questioning with Lieutenant Hussein Jabbar, he admitted to using a hunting rifle to confront the demonstrators. The third is Alaa Fadel.

According to the Minister, the judge decided to arrest the accused officers in line with Article 406/1 of the Penal Code, and investigations are ongoing to refer them to the competent court.

Ghanemi said an investigation had been opened because the federal police had deployed "to fire live rounds in the air", contravening orders not to use live fire by the PM, who heads the armed forces.

He called on the demonstrators to commit to peace, and security services to protect the demonstrators.

In a tweet, Kadhimi confirmed that he will proceed with opening a probe with all those involved in the bloodshed of demonstrators.

"We promised our people to reveal the facts about the incidents of Tahrir Square within 72 hours, and we did,” he said.



UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)

The UN rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations.

The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led fighters loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation, which it denies.

The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest UN figures.

"The data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian organizations," Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

The United Nations has called the GHF aid model "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

The GHF said on Tuesday it had delivered more than 75 million meals to Gaza Palestinians since the end of May, and that other humanitarian groups had "nearly all of their aid looted" by Hamas or criminal gangs.

The Israeli army previously told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the Israeli army by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Program said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by "hungry civilian communities".