Iraq News

ISIS claims assassination of Iraqi election candidate

Gunmen shot dead a parliamentary candidate at his home in northern Iraq on Monday (May 7th), AFP reported, in an attack claimed by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).

The candidate was "shot dead" by armed men at dawn "after they forced their way into his home", said Salah al-Jubury, a local official in al-Qayyarah, south of Mosul.

He named the slain candidate as Faruq Zarzur al-Jubury, 45, a Sunni from Shia Vice President Ayad Allawi's National Alliance list.

National elections are set to take place in Iraq on Saturday.

In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, ISIS said Zarzur al-Jubury was killed because he was "an atheist".

ISIS threatened in late April to attack polling stations, voters and candidates, in a statement by its spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir.

In a video posted on Facebook the day before he died, al-Jubury called on voters to be wary of outgoing candidates "and those who buy votes", in a message featuring him carrying his 6-year-old son Rayan in his arms.

In the video, he promised "a strong government -- one that will take care of poor, families of martyrs, reconstruction and citizens".

"In a few days, God willing, we will be celebrating victory," he said, sitting on the lawn outside his home.

His Facebook page was inundated on Monday with messages deploring the attack.

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