Drugs, militias form explosive mix on Iraq-Iran border
Officers and judges who dare to go up against those controlling the drug trade along Iraq’s southeastern border with Iran continue to be targeted as attempts are made to crack down on corruption.
BAGHDAD — An anti-narcotics Interior Ministry general was assassinated Sept. 5 in Iraq’s drug-plagued southeastern region of Maysan on the same day as the announcement of the arrest of the region’s National Security Department director for corruption.
Both mark only the latest of a long string of incidents hinting at growing lawlessness along the country’s border with Iran.
The National Security officer killed — Brig. Gen. Qassim Daoud Salman — was shot dead along with his driver outside a restaurant near the border. His attackers fled.
The director who was arrested for corruption had accepted a bribe of several thousand dollars from an informant working with the Integrity Commission. A video of his arrest was widely circulated on social media, seemingly to shore up confidence in the country’s security forces amid widespread tension and eroded faith in their ability to counter mafias and militias.
