The Iraqi Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that a senior police officer was wounded in clashes with suspected drug dealers in southern the country.
The police colonel, who is the Anti-narcotics Office in the northern part of Thi Qar province, was leading the raid when the two suspects opened fire on the force, prompting clashes, the ministry said in a statement.
The officer, whose name was not disclosed, sustained two gunshot wounds, one in the abdomen and one in the leg, the statement said. He was transferred to hospital, underwent successful surgery, and his condition is now stable, it added.
The two suspects were also wounded, the ministry said. The raid ended with the seizure of one kilogram of the synthetic drug crystal meth, a Kalashnikov rifle, ammunition magazines, and five hand grenades, it added.
Drug trafficking and abuse have been growing rapidly in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, posing a challenge to the country's security forces.
Security and health officials blame what they describe as successive weak governments, as well as widespread corruption among security forces, porous borders and a lack of co-operation between government agencies, for the rise.
Since 2003, Iraq has been transformed from being a corridor for smuggling drugs to neighbouring countries to a place where drug consumption is reaching unprecedented levels.
The most widely used drug in the country is crystal methamphetamine, followed by Captagon, according to the Health Ministry. Others include tramadol, heroin and hashish.
Iraq has recently increased operations aimed at curbing drug smuggling and consumption inside the country as well as in co-operation with neighbours, mainly Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon. Several Iraqi and foreign dealers have been arrested, and drugs have been seized almost daily.
