ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Baghdad’s Karkh Criminal Court on Wednesday issued two death sentences against a man convicted with killing two law enforcement members in a shootout in southern Baghdad last month.

In late August, clashes erupted in Baghdad’s Dora neighborhood between a group of armed men and a team of security forces tasked with removing illegal housing structures in the area, leaving two police officers killed and wounding four.

Iraq’s interior ministry later revealed that four people had been arrested for their involvement in the attack.

“The Karkh Criminal Court has issued two death sentences against the individual who killed Brigadier General Hisham Mohammed, Director of the Baghdad Municipality/Karkh Police Department, and Commissioner Khalid Abbas assigned to the same department,” read a statement from the Iraqi judiciary on Wednesday.

The suspect is sentenced in accordance with Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which concerns premeditated murder and carries the death penalty in aggravated cases.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in August condemned the “heinous attacks on security and service institutions,” vowing to “pursue all those involved in this criminal act” and bring them to justice.

Days following the attack, the Iraqi parliament recommended the formation of an investigative committee to examine the details of the incident, adding that the body would be obligated to provide the legislature with its final report, including “the results of the investigation, recommendations, and identification of those responsible.”

It is unclear whether the perpetrators belong to organized armed groups or are independent shooters. However, Dora is known to have high activity of armed groups, with separate shooting incidents having taken place in the past.

Many suburbs of the Iraqi capital feature widespread informal settlements that were built without correct planning permission, with the federal government having engaged in efforts to regularize the status of such dwellings and improve services for residents.