Today, Wednesday, Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Al-Badrani revealed that his convoy came under gunfire from a security force at a checkpoint in Nineveh province. The provincial operations command clarified the nature of the incident.
Al-Badrani stated in a press release that his convoy was shot at while passing through the "Scorpion Control" checkpoint south of Mosul. He mentioned that the Minister of Interior has ordered an investigation into the incident.
Al-Badrani explained that he contacted the Minister of Interior to report the assault on the minister's convoy, which was gunfire from a checkpoint officer. He affirmed that there was no truth to the security leadership's claims regarding the presence of an unidentified convoy that entered through the Al-Barari checkpoint, which had been informed that the convoy belonged to the Minister of Culture.
He continued, "The convoy was on an official mission coming from Baghdad to receive me in Mosul, and surveillance cameras confirmed that there was no breach by the convoy, backed by the testimony of the director of checkpoint affairs, who expressed surprise at the gunfire from a checkpoint officer."
The minister emphasized that the security leadership was not directly aware of the matter and had not even bothered to inquire about the incident, highlighting a contradiction between the statement of the Nineveh operations commander regarding informing them about the convoy's entry from the Al-Barari checkpoint and the checkpoint director's assertion that the convoy entered from Al-Barari without declaring its presence in the area.
Al-Badrani insisted that "the minister's convoy is committed to not using sirens within the city and complying with traffic signals, in addition to not allowing his protection detail to enter public institutions with their weapons or to violate anyone."
In contrast, Nineveh Operations Commander Major General Abdul Ramadan denied in a statement that the Culture Minister's convoy was shot at, asserting that members of the minister's protection detail had transgressed at a checkpoint, and the minister was not present in the convoy.
He added, "A message was received regarding the arrival of the Minister of Culture and Antiquities' convoy via the Martyr Subhan checkpoint east of Mosul along the Erbil road, and indeed, the convoy entered with the minister at 7:45 PM."
Ramadan clarified, "Other information reached us about the minister's convoy bypassing the Al-Barari checkpoint, the southern entrance of the province for those coming from Baghdad, and they did not comply with the checkpoint." He mentioned, "The operations command directed the checkpoint affairs director to be present at the Scorpion Control checkpoint south of Mosul, and upon the convoy's arrival, they were stopped. They claimed it was the minister's convoy, and when the officer requested to see the minister to confirm their claims, a verbal altercation occurred between the two parties that escalated into a fight."
The operations commander confirmed, "The situation was controlled, and an investigation is underway to hold accountable those responsible among the protection detail."
