Gunmen kill Iraqi journalist in Kirkuk

Gunmen have killed a notable Iraqi journalist in the troubled city of Kirkuk.

A Kirkuk police colonel said on Tuesday that Thabet al-Obeidi was “assassinated” earlier in the day by unidentified gunmen aboard a white car while on his way to work in Kirkuk city center.

Obeidi was the head of Baba Gurgur, a local radio station that broadcasts in Arabic, Kurdish and Turkmen. The 38-year-old also worked for the state-run Iraqi Media Network.

Officials from the state-run Iraqiya channel confirmed the death of the journalist, which has been the latest in a string of such murders in Iraq.

People from the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said the assassination may have been inspired by political motives, although they did not elaborate.

Kurdish forces have been controlling Kirkuk, an ethnically divided city in Iraq’s oil-rich north. The city, however, is officially under the authority of Baghdad.

The death of Obeidi was the second in days in areas dominated by Kurds. Another Iraqi journalist was found dead a few days ago near Dohuk in Kurdistan.

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www.presstv.co.uk