Iraqi's Abadi orders investigation into recent assassinations of women

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi prime minister Haider a-Abadi has ordered security officials to immediately investigate recent assassinations of well-known females as well as kidnappings across the country.

According to a statement from Abadi's's office, he directed the Ministry of Interior and intelligence services to "immediately and within 48 hours focus efforts at the national level to obtain information and take action on the assassinations and kidnappings in Basra, Baghdad and elsewhere in the country."

The statement went on to suggest that "organized groups" were intending to give the false impression that the incidents were part of one single, unified plan.

The latest killing occurred on Thursday when unknown assailants shot and killed model and social media fashion icon Tara Fares in Baghdad.

The 22-year-old, who was voted as Baghdad’s beauty queen in 2015, was living in the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil but had been moving back and forth to Baghdad. Fares has millions of followers on social media outlets, including over two million on Instagram.

In August, Rafeef al-Yaseri, the owner of Barbie beauty center, and Rasha al-Hassan, a beauty expert and owner and manager of Viola beauty center in Baghdad, both died under mysterious circumstances in their homes.

On Tuesday, a female human rights activist who was actively involved in this summer's mass protests in the southern city of Basra was assassinated in broad daylight in an armed attack.

The next day, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) expressed “grave concern” over the murder, and called on authorities in Basra “to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the killing to determine its motives and to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.”

Editing by John J. Catherine