ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s Baghdad Operations Command on Wednesday revealed the identities of five suspects arrested for their involvement in the assassination of Iraqi parliamentary candidate Safaa al-Mashhadani, three of whom share the victim’s last name.

Mashhadani, a candidate of the Sunni National Sovereignty-Legislation Alliance and a member of Baghdad’s provincial council, was killed on October 15 after a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded in Tarmiyah, northern Baghdad.

The Iraqi interior ministry on Tuesday announced that five suspects in the killing had been arrested.

Walid Khalifa Al-Tamimi, commander of Baghdad Operations, told state media on Wednesday that the assassination “is a criminal case and not a terrorist operation," claiming that “there is no security negligence in the incident.”

The commander assured that the perpetrators “have been arrested and investigation is ongoing with them," reiterating that the murder does not affect Iraq’s “general security.”

Tamimi revealed the names of the five suspects, which included three sharing the victim’s surname, Mashhadani, a prominent Sunni tribe in Iraq.

The assassination raised concerns about the country’s security and sectarian tensions, and sparked national outrage, with top politicians and authorities condemning the attack and demanding that the culprits be brought to justice.

Several other candidates from different backgrounds have also claimed to have been targeted since.

Iraq has continuously struggled with sectarian and political division across its religious and ethnic components, frequently manifesting in violence that spills over into its political and electoral processes.

Iraq's parliamentary elections are set to be held on November 11. Nearly 30 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, including more than one million who will be eligible for the first time.