A commander in the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and one of his companions were killed by armed gunmen who targeted a car he was traveling in in the city of Hilla, south of Baghdad.

According to Iraqi media, security sources said, on Monday, that unidentified persons opened fire on the car of the commander of the 9th Brigade in the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Sadiq al-Khakhkhashi, on his way to his workplace, which led to the killing of him and one of his protection members, while the driver was seriously injured, and the attackers fled.

Iraq is struggling to control the security situation as it wages a battle to eliminate ISIS remnants and control the chaos of weapons.

ISIS, which Baghdad announced its defeat in 2017, with the support of the international coalition, continues to carry out terrorist operations from time to time, and Iraq is witnessing political assassinations.

Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi visited the United States and held a strategic dialogue with Washington, which concluded that the combat forces in Iraq would be withdrawn permanently at the end of this year, and that the relationship between the two sides would turn into a relationship of training, security cooperation, and intelligence only.