IRAQI ACTIVIST SALAH AL-IRAQI SHOT DEAD BY MASKED GUNMEN IN BAGHDAD

Tue 15 December 2020:

An Iraqi anti-government protester was shot dead in east Baghdad by masked gunmen on Tuesday evening, according to a security source, a medic and an activist network.

Salah al-Iraqi was well-known for his active role in the rallies that erupted in Iraq’s capital and the Shia-majority south last year, slamming the government as corrupt, inefficient and beholden to neighbouring Iran.

Iraqi was killed in the capital’s Baghdad al-Jadida district, according to a medic, a security source and the Iraqi Network for Social Media (INSM), a collection of activists who reported on the protests and their aftermath.

Iraqi activist Salah Al-Iraqi was gunned down in Baghdad Al-Jadida tonight. He was shot five times and was known for his outspoken courage against corruption and militias. Salah was injured in an earlier protest. pic.twitter.com/Hd1f3eJUMy

— Steven Nabil (@thestevennabil) December 15, 2020

Gunmen killed another Iraqi activist tonight in Baghdad Al-Jadida district. Salah Al-Iraqi was shot down 5 times. pic.twitter.com/U2v2alVSIp

— Steven Nabil (@thestevennabil) December 15, 2020

All three sources confirmed to AFP that Iraqi died on his arrival at the nearby Sheikh Zayed hospital.

Baghdad al-Jadida is a few kilometres (miles) from Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the capital’s protests from where Iraqi, always energetic, would broadcast live footage.

INSM said he had already been targeted twice before Tuesday’s shooting.

In his last post on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, Iraqi had written: “The innocent die while the cowards rule.”

Nearly 600 people have lost their lives in protest-related violence since rallies began in October 2019, including young organisers who were shot dead.