Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has order an investigation of a pre-dawn raid on the governor's office in Diyala province, which led to the death of the governor's secretary, local media reported Tuesday.
A committee under Interior Minister Jawad al-Boulani will look into the incident occurred early on Tuesday, the Voices of Iraq news agency quoted Deputy Governor Awf Rahoumi as saying.
U.S. and Iraqi troops air-dropped troops at about 2:00 a.m. (2300 GMT on Monday) on the buildings of the provincial government offices with the aim of detaining Diyala governor Raad Rasheed Mullah Jawad, a Shiite, a local police source said on condition of anonymity.
The governor, who also survived unhurt an assassination attempt last week when a suicide bomber struck his convoy in central Baquba, was not present at the scene during the pre-dawn raid in the provincial capital of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad.
The troops also clashed with the guards of the offices, killing Abbas Ali Hmoud, the governor's secretary and wounding three policemen.
Hussein al-Zubaidi, head of the security committee of the provincial council, a Sunni, was also detained during the raid, according to the source.
The U.S. military denied involvement of its troops in the raid.
"Our operational data has no coalition forces being part of this operation," the military said in a statement.
The operation "was done without the knowledge or assistance of coalition forces. An air weapons team was in the vicinity of the incident but did not engage any targets."
According to the source, another force raided Diyala University and detained its chancellor, Nezar al-Khafaji, after clashes with the guards which resulted in the wounding of four security members.
In addition, a local source from the Iraqi Islamic Party confirmed to Xinhua that the raid was conducted by the Iraqi 36th Brigade, which came from Baghdad.
The source, who also declined to be named, said the assaulting force was affiliated to the Interior Ministry, adding that its soldiers killed the governor's secretary, beat members of the provincial council and confiscated computers and mobile phones.
Sunni Arab parties in Iraq condemned the assault.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, headed by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, denounced the "irresponsible actions" by the Iraqi troops, and warned of negative consequences of such acts.
A statement issued by the key Sunni party demanded the Iraqi government to immediately release Zubaidi and make official apology to him and other council members.
The statement accused the assaulting force of brutally beating members of the provincial council and chanting sectarian words during the raid.
The Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), a major Sunni bloc in the parliament, condemned the raids, claiming that it is linked directly to Maliki, a Shiite.
"If it is true that this force is linked to prime minister, then we are astonished that he relies on special groups to carry out orders that has nothing to do with national interest," IAF spokesman Saleem al-Jubouri told reporters.
Jubouri held Maliki responsibility for the irresponsible action.
The move came as U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are conducting major offensive against extremist Shiite and Sunni militiamen in Diyala which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border.
On June 20, Iraqi forces detained Rafie Abdul Jabbar, deputy governor of Maysan province south of Baghdad on charges of aiding militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Source:Xinhua
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