Anti-narcotics chief shot twice in Shatrah gunfight as two suspects arrested

The head of the North Dhi Qar Anti-Narcotics Department was shot in the abdomen and the leg during a gunfight with two suspected drug dealers in Shatrah, the Interior Ministry said. He has had surgery and is in stable condition.

The two men opened fire as officers moved to arrest them and the force returned fire, wounding both before taking them into custody, the ministry said.

A kilogram of crystal methamphetamine was seized along with a Kalashnikov-type rifle, magazines and five hand grenades. Legal proceedings have begun against both. Armed confrontations during drug operations have become common.

A senior intelligence officer was killed and another wounded during a raid in Hilla in July last year, three National Security Service officers were wounded in Basra in July when a suspect opened fire during an arrest in Abu al-Khasib, and the Counter-Terrorism Service arrested two men after a 30-minute gunfight in central Nasiriyah in April last year.

The Interior Ministry's narcotics directorate said in June that courts had issued 362 death sentences and 1,500 life terms against convicted traffickers since 2023.