BAGHDAD, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Two Iraqi women were shot dead on Wednesday by unidentified gunmen in Iraq's southern city of Basra, a local security source said.
The attack took place in the afternoon when gunmen opened fire from their assault rifles on a sport utility vehicle (SUV) carrying four women in a commercial street in Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The attack resulted in the killing of Reham Yaqoub, a female doctor who works in Basra Hospital, and also a civil society activist who supports the anti-government protests in Iraq which demanded comprehensive reform, fight against corruption, better public services, and more job opportunities, the source said.
The attack also resulted in the killing of another woman and the wounding of the two others in the vehicle, the source added.
The attackers fled the scene before the arrival of the security forces, he said.
Two days ago, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sacked the police chief of Basra province, as well as the head of the National Security Service, due to repeated security violations and assassinations in the province recently.
On Friday, unknown gunmen assassinated a civil society activist Tahseen Ali with silenced weapons in Basra, according to the provincial police. Enditem
