One of the highest ranking generals in Iraq's new US-trained army was shot dead in Baghdad on Monday, the US military and Iraqi police said. Major General Mubdar Hatim al-Dulaimi, commander of all Iraqi army forces in the capital, was killed by a sniper, police sources said. He was shot as he drove through western Baghdad.
As the commander of the 6th Division, among the first and biggest of Iraq's new Army divisions formed by US forces as part of their plans for eventual withdrawal, Maj Gen Dulaimi was among the most prominent officers in Iraq's security forces. His troops have been in the front line of efforts for the past two weeks to prevent further sectarian bloodshed in the wake of an attack on a major Shiite shrine.
The US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, said in a statement: "This tragic incident will neither impede the 6th Iraqi Army Division from continuing its mission of securing Baghdad nor derail the formation of the government of Iraq." The US military said in a statement: "Mubdar had been visiting his soldiers in Kadimiyah and was returning to his headquarters when his convoy came under small arms fire attack." |