SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iraq police in armed clash with pro-Iran militia in Baghdad
Baghdad, June 20 (AFP) Jun 20, 2018
Iraqi police surrounded the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia and detained one of its members after an armed clash Wednesday left three people wounded in Baghdad, a security official said.

The powerful Hezbollah Brigades militia is part of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units that battled the Islamic State group (IS) in Iraq.

A shootout erupted after a police patrol in the Iraqi capital stopped a car, only for a convoy of Hezbollah Brigades members to arrive, an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

"The men in five vehicles opened fire and the police responded. Two policemen were wounded and one of the members of Hezbollah Brigades," he said.

The police then quickly surrounded the militia headquarters "where the fighters had holed up", the official said, closing down one of Baghdad's main thoroughfares.

The siege was lifted after the "person behind the shooting" was arrested, the official said.

The flareup in violence was rare for the Iraqi capital, which has seen clashes drop off dramatically since a sectarian conflict over a decade ago.

The Hezbollah Brigades joined the Hashed alliance -- which came under the command of Iraq's prime minister -- after an appeal in 2014 by Iraq's top Shiite cleric to stop IS rampaging across the country.

Iraq declared victory over IS in December last year after a punishing offensive that saw the Hashed on the front lines alongside government troops.

Independent of the authorities in Baghdad, the Hezbollah Brigades are also fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

The group was targeted Sunday in air raids laid at Israel's door that reportedly left some 50 people dead in eastern Syria, where forces on the ground are battling IS remnants.

Israel has pledged to take all steps to stop key Assad backer Iran or its "proxies" building up a military presence in Syria.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
PLD Space selected as leading contender for ESA sovereign launch initiative
UK thermal satellite firm wins ESA contract to deliver real time climate and security insights
UK opens competitive bid for GBP 75 million orbital cleanup mission

24/7 Energy News Coverage
China speeds up renewables building spree: report
French giant EDF will take 12.5 pecent stake in new UK nuclear plant
Major US teachers union teams up with AI giants

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
BlackSky expands Gen-3 access to bolster Ukraine-focused intelligence operations
Maxar secures $205 million in multi-year deals to boost space capabilities across MEA
K2 Space validates satellite systems in orbit and fires record-breaking thruster

24/7 News Coverage
The long slow death of Norway's wild salmon
Beijing decries 'discriminatory' ban on Chinese purchases of US farmland
China's 'new farmers' learn to livestream in rural revitalisation



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.