The Karkh Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced Mohammed Abdul Majeed Khalaf Al-Taie to death in two separate rulings after convicting him of killing Brigadier General Hisham Mohammed Tala’a and policeman Khalid Abbas Lafta during an official security operation in Baghdad’s Al-Dora district.
The Supreme Judicial Council said the defendant opened fire on the two men while they were carrying out their duties as part of a unit tasked with removing illegal encroachments on land, resulting in their deaths.
The Council stated that the rulings were issued under Article 406/1/A of Iraq’s amended Penal Code No. 111 of 1969.
The incident took place in late August, when a security force and service teams came under gunfire while conducting a campaign to remove residential encroachments in Al-Dora, Karara and Hay Al-Dijla, south of Baghdad. The attack killed Brigadier General Hisham Mohammed Tala’a and policeman Khalid Abbas Lafta and injured four others, including security personnel and a Baghdad Municipality employee. Security forces arrested the suspect two days after the incident.
