Hisham al-Hashimi, an internationally known Iraqi expert on extremist groups and militias in Iraq and Syria, was assassinated in front of his house in Baghdad's Ziyouna district in the early evening July 6. Hashimi was shot dead by two gunmen while he was leaving his house.

Hashimi was jailed as an opposition figure under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. After Hussein's overthrow in 2003, Hashimi led several research projects on the Islamic extremist groups, including the books “History of al-Qaeda in Iraq” and “Organization of the Islamic State from Within.” He was a valuable source of analysis on the extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, and Iraqi politics more broadly, for many leading media and research centers, including Al-Monitor, and had a reputation for honesty and integrity throughout Iraq.

Hashimi's assassination was widely condemned by various parties, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Nations, in addition to Iraqi and Iranian governments and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Hashimi had recently been researching militia activities in Iraq targeting US bases and state facilities and was himself threatened by the militias several times. However, he nonetheless had maintained a good relationship with the leaders of the Popular Mobilization Units, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was assassinated with Iran top commander Qasem Soleimani early this year.