BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces deployed in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone early Sunday with the raid targeting “several politicians”, a security official told AFP.
The Green Zone houses the US embassy and other diplomatic missions, as well as international institutions and government offices. High-ranking officials and politicians also live there.
Video footage shared on local Telegram channels showed security forces in heavy vehicles such as tanks in the Green Zone, including a clip of them inside a compound and, in one instance, inside a house.
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A security official told AFP, under the condition of anonymity, that a “raid targeted several politicians over financial corruption, per judicial orders,” adding that the operation involved anti-terrorism forces and the military. No official statement has been released as yet.
The source did not provide further details or names of officials reportedly arrested.
The large-scale raids were aimed at arresting senior Iraqi officials, with several names circulating in local media reports.
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Iraq’s new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi vowed to fight corruption and mismanagement that has plagued Iraq for decades. /dl