On February 15, 2014 university professor Omar Mohamed Yunis was shot dead in front of his house in western Mosul.
According to an anonymous police source in Niniveh, unidentified gunmen opened fire with machine guns in front of Professor Yunis’s house in the Mosul Jadeeda area of western Mosul (New Mosul neighborhood-Mosul city). Professor Yunis died at the scene. Professor Yunis taught at the University of Tal Afar in al-Mosul al-Jadeeda, west of Mosul. As of this report, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the apparently targeted killing of a professor. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and institutional autonomy. State officials have a responsibility to ensure the security of higher education communities, to prevent future attacks, and to hold perpetrators of violent attacks accountable.
Sources:
http://burathanews.com/news_article_229055.html
http://www.ninanews.com/arabic/News_print.asp?ar95_VQ=GMJJHD
http://www.ninanews.com/english/News_Details.asp?ar95_VQ=GMJJHL
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/professor-assassinated-western-mosul/#axzz2v15vSLQ1

SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Learn more.