Anti-terror Operation Kills 20 Civilians, Interior Minister Fires Iraqi Police Chief

Iraqi police illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/SPC Sara Wakai)

JAKARTA - Iraq's Interior Minister sacked a provincial police chief, after an anti-terror operation that reportedly led to the deaths of 20 members of the same family.

The operation, the details of which remain unclear, took place on Thursday. Security forces tried to storm a house in the village of Al Rashayed in Babel, a central province.

Iraq's official news agency said the death toll was 20 civilians from the same family, saying property owners had opened fire and "refused to surrender".

Interior Ministry official Saad Maan posted a video of the place on Twitter, showing a damaged house with shattered doors and windows.

Citing The National News Jan. 1, he denounced "crimes at all levels", without identifying those to blame and said the investigation would "understand all the circumstances of the incident".

Earlier, during a visit to Al Rashayed on Friday, Interior Minister Othman Al Ghanimi sacked the Babylonian police chief, saying a commission would investigate the unit that carried out the operation.

In a brief initial statement, security forces said they were "pursuing two men accused of terrorism" who "opened fire indiscriminately" after the siege.

An investigation was opened "after the discovery of several bodies of residents in a house", the statement added.

Security sources and media said a suspect linked to ISIS or a drug trafficking network had been implicated. The Iraqi-Kurdish news agency Rudaw identified the suspect as Rahim Kazem Al Ghurairi, citing his sister as saying security forces were responsible for the death.

الفديو.. اللواء الدكتور ان ادث لة الي افظة ابل الإجراءات القانونية المتخذة. pic.twitter.com/Noew6TmR0V

— - Saad Maan (@saadmaanoficial) December 31, 2021