Three Turkmen Shiite brothers shot dead in Iraq
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Three Shiite Turkmen, including a local leader of the Badr political group, were shot dead outside their home in northern Iraq on Thursday, a security official said.
The incident occurred in the village of Amerli, south of the oil hub of Kirkuk, local police Lieutenant Colonel Jowdat Abdullah told AFP.
"We have opened up an investigation to see whether the killing was the result of a terrorist act or a family feud," he said, adding that one of the brothers was a member of the local police force.
The body of Badr official Shakur Mohammed Ali al-Bayati was taken to the morgue, a medical official said.
The Badr organization was the military wing of the one of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite parties, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, before it officially renounced arms and blended into mainstream politics about four years ago.
Badr control 16 seats in Iraq’s 275-seat parliament.
Amerli was the scene of tension between Shiite political groups during the religious Ashura ceremonies commemorating the death of Imam Hussein that concluded on Wednesday, police said.
Turkmen represent about five percent of the Iraqi population and are concentrated around Kirkuk, a fragile ethnic mix of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen.
Photo: AFP