Attacks on foreign companies: senior commander dismissed, unprecedented military deployment
Shafaq News/ Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari dismissed a senior security commander on Thursday in response to recent attacks on foreign companies in the capital, Baghdad.
A security source told Shafaq News Agency that "the Interior Minister has dismissed the commander of the First Division of the Federal Police and appointed Major General Ahmed Ghader Madi as his replacement."
Eyewitnesses revealed to Shafaq News that the Iraqi capital experienced an intense security deployment led by the Baghdad Operations Command on both sides of the city, Al-Karkh, and Rusafa, this evening, marking a scene not witnessed in years.
A source explained that the widespread security deployment involved weapon inspections, protection of embassies and diplomatic missions, and safeguarding restaurants and vital areas.
A branch of the American company Caterpillar in Al-Jadriya neighborhood and the British Cambridge Institute in Palestine Street were both hit with sound grenades at around 1:30 am local time today.
No casualties were reported.
Two Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurants were also attacked in Baghdad over the weekend, causing damage but no injuries, and Iraqi security forces arrested some suspects, the interior ministry and police sources said on Monday.
Initial investigations showed that the restaurants were targeted over the perceived support of U.S.-based brands for Israel amid the war in the Gaza Strip, police sources said.
The first attack took place early on Sunday when two men on a motorcycle threw a make-shift bomb at a branch of the American KFC restaurant in eastern Baghdad's Palestine Street, causing minor damage, police sources said.
On Monday, another KFC Baghdad branch and a second American-style restaurant were attacked by a group of masked men who broke into the restaurants and used sticks to smash glass and destroy furniture.
They fled before the arrival of security forces, police sources said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
