The attack took place on Friday in the Zayne neighborhood and Iraq's interior ministry has since confirmed the news, adding that "unknown assailants" were to blame. According to Iraqi security officials it appeared to be an assassination.
The attacker, who currently remains unknown, reportedly shot the popular influencer in her car after arriving on a motorbike. It seems the attacker pretended to be making a food delivery to avoid suspicion and it was at this point shots were fired. A second woman is said to also be injured from the attack, according to Al Hurra news agency. A "specialist work team" is believed to have been set up in a bid to investigate the circumstances that led to the TikTok star being killed.
The star was famous for her light hearted videos taken of herself dancing to Iraqi music while wearing fitted outfits. She had recently become involved in a bitter feud with a fellow influencer Dalia Naeem, who is perhaps better known as Iraqi Barbie, due to her plastic surgery.
Iraqi Barbie had reportedly threatened to expose the alleged relationship with a security official, it was reported by the BBC. In February last year, a court sentenced Om, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, to six months in prison for sharing "videos containing indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality." This was part of the Iraqi government's attempt to clean up social media content in its country as it is said to be in breach of Iraqi "morals and traditions."
An interior ministry committee was established to wade through TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms for clips it believed to be offensive to the country's values. The ministry declared in a promotional video: "This type of content is no less dangerous than organized crime. It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society."
Since then a number of other influencers have been arrested, according to authorities. Just days after Om's jail term, another influencer, Assal Hossam, suffered the same fate but this time their punishment was even worse as they were sentenced to two years in prison. Some of her videos showed her dressed in tight military uniform, which undoubtedly offended those in positions of authority.
Despite years of civil unrest and war following the 2003 invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq appeared to return to a state of normality. However, civil liberties for women, and minority groups remained restricted to maintain a conservative and traditional society.