BAGHDAD (AP) — Assailants shot dead an American aid worker in Baghdad on Monday in a rare killing of a foreigner in the Iraqi capital in recent years, two police officials said.
The man was shot as he drove through the central Karrada district on the east bank of the Tigris River but the reason for the killing was not immediately clear, they said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing.
U.S. Embassy officials when contacted by The Associated Press said they had only just heard about the shooting and had no information.
Two security officials confirmed a U.S. citizen who worked for an international aid organization had been killed without giving his name. They said details were scarce but an investigation was underway. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Such attacks against individuals in the Iraqi capital have been rare since the defeat of the Islamic State group in the country in 2017 but rockets are sometimes fired toward the U.S. Embassy.
U.S.-led coalition forces recently ended their combat mission in Iraq but continue to play an advisory role to Iraqi forces in the fight against IS.
