ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The former director of agriculture in Karkh, Eyad Kadhim Ali, was arrested on Monday over his “direct involvement” in causing the armed conflict in Baghdad’s Karkh Agriculture Department that killed at least two and injured multiple more.

In a statement on Monday, the Iraqi interior ministry announced “the arrest of the former Director of Agriculture in Karkh by a special force affiliated with the Intelligence Agency for his direct involvement in causing the armed incident that occurred yesterday morning inside the Agriculture Department building.”

The ministry’s statement added that “legal action will be taken against the accused, and that he will be detained pending his appearance before the competent judicial authorities,” reaffirming that the ministry’s security services “will not tolerate any attempt to destabilize security or undermine the prestige of the state and its institutions.”

An armed group stormed an agriculture ministry department in Baghdad on Sunday upon the appointment of a new manager for the department. At least one police officer and one civilian were killed in the attack, in addition to several officers and personnel injured during the confrontations.

Shortly after the eruption of the violent clashes on Sunday, the ministry revealed that the attack coincided with the appointment of a new director to the department.

Security forces were able to arrest 14 individuals implicated in the attack, who were found to be members of brigades 45 and 46 of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), according to a statement by the Joint Operations Command. The two brigades are led by Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, secretary-general of the Kataib Hezbollah.

The US Embassy in Baghdad on Monday offered condolences “to the families of the victims who were killed by Kataib Hezballah, a US-designated terrorist organization within the Popular Mobilization Forces,” while calling on the Iraqi government to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Hours after the US embassy’s statement, Kataib Hezbollah affirmed on Monday that "it was not a party to the clashes," noting that the Iraqi security forces arrested "a number of clients and employees affiliated with the PMF who had no connection to what happened at the Agricultural Department," according to the group.

"This escalation serves the enemies of Iraq, and is driven by malicious agendas seeking to divide the national ranks and push government agencies into war," the Kataib Hezbollah statement said.

The PMF, the umbrella group under which the Kataib fall, on Sunday reaffirmed that it "will have absolutely no tolerance for any individual who exceeds orders or violates established security procedures" in light of the attack, adding that their forces exist "to serve as a shield for the nation and an extension of official security institutions."

The PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi, was formed upon a call by Iraq’s top Shiite authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani soon after the Islamic State (ISIS) took over large swathes of territory in Iraq. The force has since been officially incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces, enjoying similar privileges as the Iraqi army.