Gunfire could be heard across central Baghdad, according to journalists – Traffic in the capital was banned
Two people were killed today at Baghdadh, since the decision of the mighty Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to leave politics caused chaos and bloody conflicts between his followers and his opponents, supported by Iran.
Young Sadr loyalists who took to the streets to protest their leader’s decision clashed with supporters of Tehran-backed groups. The two sides threw stones at each other outside Baghdad’s Green Zone, a heavily guarded area where many ministries and embassies are located.
Gunfire was heard throughout central Baghdad, according to reporters. At least some of the gunfire appears to have come from weapons fired into the air, but the source of all the gunfire is currently unclear.
According to police and medical workers, two people were killed and 22 others were injured.
The Iraqi army ordered a curfew from 3:30 p.m. local time (and Greek time) for Baghdad and from 7 p.m. for all of Iraq and called on protesters to leave the Green Zone.
The clashes began hours after Sadr announced he was retiring from politics. His supporters, who have been protesting for weeks in the parliament, in the Green Zone, then decided to demonstrate and hundreds of them stormed the House of the Republic, where the Council of Ministers is based. While they wandered around offices, sat in armchairs, jumped into the pool or took pictures, security forces intervened, firing tear gas to disperse the crowd at the entrance to the Green Zone, a source told AFP.
The curfew and increased security forces throughout the capital did not work: chaos reigned in the Green Zone.
Witnesses said there was an exchange of gunfire between the Sadrists and supporters of the Cooperation Framework, a rival pro-Iranian Shiite organization.
The UN mission in Iraq, which is based in the Green Zone, called on the protesters to leave, asking everyone to “exercise the utmost restraint”.
For about a year now, Iraq has been at an impasse as politicians have been unable to agree on a new prime minister. After the parliamentary elections, in which Sadr’s party emerged first (but only with 73 seats out of a total of 329), Iraq has neither a new government nor a new president.
To get out of the crisis, Moqtada Sadr and the Cooperation Framework agree on only one point: to hold new elections. But Sadr insists that parliament be dissolved first, while his opponents want a new government to be appointed.
After the attack on the Palace of the Republic, caretaker prime minister and Sadr ally Mustafa al-Kazimi suspended cabinet meetings “until further notice” and called an emergency meeting of security officials at the headquarters of the Military Command.
The ever-powerful yet unpredictable Moqtada Sadr announced earlier today that he is “finally retiring” from politics and will close several institutions linked to his family. But he added that cultural and religious institutions will continue to operate. In his statement he criticized other Shiite political leaders for not heeding his calls for reform.
Moqtada Sadr, 48, has never ruled himself. After the US invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in March 2003, his popularity skyrocketed, notably when he founded the Mahdi Army, a paramilitary organization that “resisted” the occupation forces. In his announcement today, he makes no mention of the Mahdi Army, nor of the Peace Brigades (including another armed group under his command) that were established in 2014 after Mosul fell to the Islamic State jihadists.
RES-EMP
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