US aid worker shot dead in Baghdad

Security officials say gunmen opened fire on aid worker's vehicle in drive-by shooting in central district from Baghdad where he lived.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A US aid worker was shot dead while driving a car in Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi officials said, in a rare attack on a foreigner in the Iraqi capital.
A senior Iraqi intelligence official said the American was killed in the evening in the central district of Karrada in Baghdad , where he and his family were renting a house. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the public, said the aid worker's car was shot at by gunmen traveling in two vehicles.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Security Officials said they did not know the motive for the attack.
The intelligence official said that the American had been employed by Millennium Relief and Development Services, a US-based charity which says it was established in 1998 to provide long-term development assistance to the poor in more than 40 countries.
A spokesperson said the US Embassy could not yet confirm the death but was investigating. The New York Times is withholding the victim's name pending confirmation that his extended family was notified.
Killings and kidnappings of strangers for ransom were more common during Iraq's civil war, when al-Qaeda and Shia militias fought in the streets following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. But in recent years Baghdad has become relatively safe, with many foreign residents living in houses and apartments in the heart of the capital. When killings do occur, the attacks are usually the result of conflicts with militias or criminal activity.
The aid worker was affiliated with an English-speaking American center in Baghdad and recently posted videos on the center's Facebook page inviting Iraqi students to enroll.
His social media feeds included Bible quotes and photos from the family's trips to Baghdad and Jordan. One showed him with his wife taking a selfie in Al Mutanabi Street, the cultural heart of Baghdad, and another posing at sunset on a bridge over the Tigris with the caption: "What a wonderful place!"
On his Facebook page, a family photo shows him with his young children in the United States leaving to deliver food aid.
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for," reads one of his Twitter posts, quoting writer John A. Shedd.
Iraq has been in intense political unrest over a new government, which was sworn in last month after more than a year of political deadlock after the 2021 elections. The new government is dominated by political blocs linked to Iran-backed militias. This year's clashes between these militias and fighters loyal to a religi them Shia who reject Iranian and foreign interference have raised fears that inter-Shia fighting could undermine the relative stability of the country's security.
Falih Hassan and Sangar Khaleel contributed to the report.

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Security officials say gunmen opened fire on aid worker's vehicle in drive-by shooting in central district from Baghdad where he lived.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A US aid worker was shot dead while driving a car in Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi officials said, in a rare attack on a foreigner in the Iraqi capital.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official said the American was killed in the evening in the central district of Karrada in Baghdad , where he and his family were renting a house. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the public, said the aid worker's car was shot at by gunmen traveling in two vehicles.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Security Officials said they did not know the motive for the attack.

The intelligence official said that the American had been employed by Millennium Relief and Development Services, a US-based charity which says it was established in 1998 to provide long-term development assistance to the poor in more than 40 countries.

A spokesperson said the US Embassy could not yet confirm the death but was investigating. The New York Times is withholding the victim's name pending confirmation that his extended family was notified.

Killings and kidnappings of strangers for ransom were more common during Iraq's civil war, when al-Qaeda and Shia militias fought in the streets following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. But in recent years Baghdad has become relatively safe, with many foreign residents living in houses and apartments in the heart of the capital. When killings do occur, the attacks are usually the result of conflicts with militias or criminal activity.

The aid worker was affiliated with an English-speaking American center in Baghdad and recently posted videos on the center's Facebook page inviting Iraqi students to enroll.

His social media feeds included Bible quotes and photos from the family's trips to Baghdad and Jordan. One showed him with his wife taking a selfie in Al Mutanabi Street, the cultural heart of Baghdad, and another posing at sunset on a bridge over the Tigris with the caption: "What a wonderful place!"

On his Facebook page, a family photo shows him with his young children in the United States leaving to deliver food aid.

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for," reads one of his Twitter posts, quoting writer John A. Shedd.

Iraq has been in intense political unrest over a new government, which was sworn in last month after more than a year of political deadlock after the 2021 elections. The new government is dominated by political blocs linked to Iran-backed militias. This year's clashes between these militias and fighters loyal to a religi them Shia who reject Iranian and foreign interference have raised fears that inter-Shia fighting could undermine the relative stability of the country's security.

Falih Hassan and Sangar Khaleel contributed to the report.