Iraq PM Orders 'Changes' in Security Commands

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a shakeup of senior security officers on Tuesday after a spate of unrest that has killed more than 380 people so far this month, an official said.

Maliki, "after consultation with security officials, issues orders ... for changes in the operations commands and commanders of divisions," the senior official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

One of those changes was to sack Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Hashem, the head of the Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for security in the capital, the official said.

The shakeup comes a day after Maliki said he would change the country's security strategy as well as top personnel.

"We are about to make changes in the high and middle positions of those responsible for security, and the security strategy," Maliki said on Monday.

Iraq is struggling to contain a wave of unrest that has killed 385 people so far this month.

Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks are still common, killing more than 200 people in each of the first five months of this year, according to AFP figures.