Kuwait accused of killing Iraqi fisherman
Shafaq News- Basra
Kuwait killed an Iraqi fisherman, wounded another, and detained their crew inside Iraqi territorial waters, Basra MP Alaa Al-Haidari alleged on Friday.
Al-Haidari labeled the incident a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and called on the Kuwaiti consul to leave Basra, adding that Baghdad could respond in kind.
Najm Abdullah Khalid’s body returned through the Safwan border crossing on Thursday alongside Thaer Mohammed Salman, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and three released fishermen, a Basra security source told Shafaq News, explaining that a Kuwaiti Coast Guard patrol had opened fire on Iraqi boat IFB166 before detaining the crew.
Kuwait has not publicly addressed the accusations or confirmed where the shooting occurred.
Al-Faw Fishermen’s Association head Badran Al-Tamimi further accused Kuwaiti authorities of conducting an autopsy on Khalid’s body before returning it without a death certificate, and of mistreating the surviving fishermen before their release.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein raised the incident during a visit to Kuwait on July 8 and called for joint preventive measures in maritime contact areas to “avoid similar incidents,” but Basra activists and civil society groups still called for a protest outside the Kuwaiti consulate on Friday.
