One of them was Hazim al-Hilfi, a commander of the Saraya al-Salam militant group, who was killed on Thursday when the vehicle carrying him was targeted by unidentified gunmen on the Muhammad al-Qasim road, west of Basra province.
He suffered fatal injuries and died on the spot, local security sources said. They quoted a Sadr movement's media official in Basra, Saad al-Maliki, as saying that Halfi was one of the leaders of the Peace Corps, Presstv Reported.
His assassination came less than 24 hours after Abu-Muqada al-Azirjawi, another top commander of the Saraya group, was seriously wounded on Tuesday night after unknown assailants riding motorcycles opened fire on him near his house in Abou Roummaneh district of Maysan governorate.
He later died of his injuries in hospital, Iraqi media reported.
There are speculations that the assassinations are carried out by foreign intelligence services with the aim of pinning the blame on rival Iraqi groups, and reignite a civil war in the volatile country.
Last October, Maysan Governorate witnessed the killing of Wissam al-Alyawi, a prominent leader in the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq group, following an armed attack on its headquarters.
‘US plotting to pit Sadr Movement against Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq’
Asa’ib leader Qais Khazali has said the US had plotted to assassinate Muqtada al-Sadr and pin the blame on Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq group in a bid to provoke a civil war in Iraq.
“The first American-Israeli project in Iraq, which they wanted to implement, was to assassinate Muqtada al-Sadr and then accuse Asa’ib of killing him, causing a nationwide slaughter in the country,” Khazali said in an interview with al-Ahad.
IRAN DAILY
