SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A civil activist was shot and wounded in Kut city in southeast of Baghdad, Iraqi media reported on Sunday.
Citing security forces, Iraqi media said unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle shot Qasem al-Tamimi after he left his home in the al-Falahia area in Kut.
A security source told Shafaq News that Tamimi was admitted to “the operating room immediately due to the injuries he suffered”.
More than 30 activists have died in targeted killings and dozens of others abducted, some detained briefly, since October 2019.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi, who took office in May 2020, has pledged justice for activists killed or abused by armed groups, and has faced off against some Iran-backed parties.
But the formation of nearly 35 committees by the new government to tackle the challenges, including pursuing those responsible for protesters’ deaths, has resulted in no prosecutions so far.
Kadhimi has placed himself publicly in opposition to Iran-backed militias and parties, and recent arrest of Qasim Muslih, commander of Hashid al-Shaabi in Anbar, was a major attempt to rein in their power.
It echoed another attempt to bring Iran-backed militias under control, when in June last year Kadhimi ordered the arrest of militants alleged to have fired rockets at U.S. targets.
Authorities released Muslih in June, two weeks after he was detained over the murder of activists Ihab al-Wazni and Fahim al-Taie.
