By Muayyad al-Tarfi
BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Thursday appointed Army Major-General Jalil Jabbar as commander of the army-run Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for overseeing security in Iraq’s violence-prone capital.
Jabbar succeeds General Abdul Amir al-Shammari, who was dismissed from the post last week after a massive car-bomb tore through central Baghdad leaving almost 300 people dead.
"Major-General Jabbar is a highly professional leader," Majid Jabbar, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told Anadolu Agency.
"Security in the capital can only be maintained through close coordination between the Baghdad Operations Command and other security agencies," he added.
Last week’s devastating car-bombing, responsibility for which was claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, is regarded as the single deadliest terrorist attack to hit Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country.