Officials: US Aid Worker Shot Dead in Baghdad in Rare Attack

An American humanitarian worker was shot and killed in Baghdad on Monday, the first foreigner to be killed there in recent years, according to two police officials.

On the east side of the Tigris River in the downtown Karrada neighbourhood, the guy was shot in his car as he approached the street where he lived. The cause of the shooting was not immediately known, they said. The man's wife and child, who were also in the car with him, were reportedly unharmed.

According to the authorities, the victim was killed by gunmen in another automobile who cut him off as he was driving through his street. They claimed it was unclear at the time if the attackers intended to kidnap the man.

A U.S. assistance worker was reported killed in Baghdad, according to reports, and the State Department is looking into the reports, according to spokesman Ned Price. However, he claimed that the department was not yet in a position to verify the death's reported cause or the citizen's status.

The man has been renting an apartment in Karrada's Wahda neighbourhood since May of last year, according to paperwork seen by The Associated Press.

Nobody quickly took ownership of the murder. When contacted by The Associated Press about the incident, U.S. Embassy representatives stated that they had just learned about it and had no further information.

Without naming him, two security officials confirmed that a U.S. citizen who worked for a global charity organisation had been assassinated. Despite the lack of specifics, they said that an inquiry was ongoing. According to rules, the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Since the Islamic State group was defeated in the nation in 2017, such assaults against specific people have been infrequent, but occasionally rockets are shot in the direction of the U.S. Embassy.

Such attacks were frequent in the early years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. After being abducted in Baghdad in 2004, two Americans were later beheaded in films published by radicals.

After receiving a vote of confidence from parliament in late October, the new Iraqi Cabinet led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani underwent an onslaught. The Coordination Framework, which is supported by Iran and is primarily made up of Shiite groups, termed Al-Sudani.

In response to widespread anti-government protests that started in Baghdad and across southern Iraq in October 2019, Iraq called early elections more than a year ago. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion prompted protesters to ask for the democratic system to be completely overhauled.

However, U.S.-led coalition forces are still providing advice to Iraqi forces in the fight against IS despite having recently finished their combat mission in Iraq.