SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A unit of Iraq SWAT forces was detained after an operation led to the deaths of 20 members of the same family in Babil province, Iraqi media reported on Sunday.
The security forces launched an operation to arrest a wanted man in al-Rashayed village in Babil province on Thursday.
The suspect opened fire indiscriminately after the security forces surrounded him, authorities said. Twenty people were killed in the incident.
Al-Ahad News cited a security source as saying that the national security council had taken into custody members of SWAT forces and several other officers as it is investigating into the deadly operation.
“A high committee of the National Security Council … detained a unit of SWAT forces and some officers in connection with the incident in Jablah,” the source told al-Ahad News.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered the national security agency to investigate the incident in Babil, Iraq’s security media cell said.
Interior minister Othman al-Ghanmi sacked Babil province’s police chef on Friday after visiting the village.
He also ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the unit that carried out the operation.
The security media cell said a number of officers and people were detained in connection with the incident.
