Baghdad, Iraq: Iraqi security forces launched raids in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone early Sunday to arrest officials including MPs suspected of corruption, amid heavy deployment in the area.
The Green Zone houses the US embassy and other diplomatic missions, as well as international institutions and government offices. High-ranking officials and politicians also live there.
Video footage shared on local Telegram channels showed security forces in heavy vehicles such as tanks in the Green Zone, including a clip of them inside a compound and, in one instance, inside a house.
AFP correspondents reported heavy security deployment at the entrances of the Green Zone.
The large-scale raids, which included other neighbourhoods in Baghdad as well, were aimed at arresting senior Iraqi officials and politicians.
Iraq's new agency (INA) quoted a senior official as saying that "several suspects accused of corruption have been arrested based on confessions made" by oil ministry official Adnan al-Jumaili, who was arrested last month.
The senior official, whose identity INA did not reveal, added that the arrests "involved members of parliament whose immunity was removed," as well as other officials.
Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has vowed to fight corruption and mismanagement that have plagued Iraq for decades.
In a move to demonstrate commitment to fighting corruption, authorities seized more than $85 million earlier this month in a graft case against Jumaili, with some of the cash hidden underground.
No official government statement on the raids has been released as yet, and INA did not provide further details or names of officials reportedly arrested.
Zaidi, who only recently took office is visiting Washington later this month.
