Iraqi local council member survives assassination bid

By Hussein al-Amir and Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) - A member of the Saladin provincial council on Friday survived an assassination attempt by unknown assailants who attacked his home, according to a local police source.

“Gunmen attacked the home of Ali Fadil, a member of Saladin’s local council, in the province’s southern Dujail district,” Police Lieutenant Numan al-Jubouri told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Jubouri, gunmen attacked Fadil’s home in Saladin (which is located north of Baghdad) with light and medium weapons before being repulsed by the official’s security detail.

In a related development Friday, anti-terrorism units carried out wide-ranging security operations in the Al-Zubair district of Iraq’s southern Basra province.

The stated aim of the operation -- now in its third day -- is to “confiscate unlicensed weapons and arrest wanted individutals”, Lieutenant Mohamed Khalaf of the army’s Basra Operations Command told Anadolu Agency.

According to Khalaf, the operation, which is being supported by the Iraqi air force, has already led to the seizure of “large quantities of weapons and military-grade equipment found among local tribesmen”.

Recent weeks have seen an uptick in violence -- often featuring heavy weaponry -- in the Shia-majority Basra province. Acts of violence have included murders, bombings, robberies and armed disputes between rival tribes in the region.