UPDATE: Iraqi PMF Finance Director dies in hospital after failed assassination attempt

Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia Finance Director, Qassim al-Zubaidi, died in hospital after being severely injured in an assassination attempt in Iraq’s capital, the group announced on Sunday evening.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia Finance Director, Qassim al-Zubaidi, died in hospital after being severely injured in an assassination attempt in Iraq’s capital, the group announced on Sunday evening.

The Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), stated that Zubaidi was injured when a “gang of terrorists” stormed his house in Baghdad’s Bayaa neighborhood. The militia’s finance director was seriously wounded by gunfire and was taken to a hospital for immediate emergency care.

Zubaidi subsequently died from his wounds sustained “during the attack” in Baghdad, the PMF announced on its website.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assassination came less than two weeks ahead of the Iraqi parliamentary election, scheduled for May 12, which has the PMF running under the Fatih list for seats in Baghdad.

Deputy Chairman of the PMF, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, condemned the attack and called on Iraqi authorities to launch an investigation into the incident.

Muhandis, who has close ties to Tehran and has been designated a terrorist by the US, warned against any other attempt to target militia leaders and officials.

The PMF was formed at the end of 2014 by Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Ayatollah al-Sistani, to protect Shia shrines and religious sites in the middle and southern provinces of Iraq against attacks carried out by the Islamic State (IS).

The Shia militia group, which is made up of almost 50 smaller factions, has participated in most of the Iraqi military's operations against IS over the past three years.

Now that the jihadist group has been territorially defeated in Iraq, militia leaders set their sights on political objectives and are competing in the upcoming Iraqi legislative elections. Baghdad forbade active militiamen and fighters from running for office.

Hundreds of PMF members and affiliates, however, are vying for a number of seats out of the 329 available ones in the Iraqi Parliament.

Editing by Nadia Riva