STREETS OF KARBALA TURN INTO A WAR ZONE, DOZENS OF PROTESTERS KILLED (VIDEO)
Tue 29 October 2019:
Iraq‘s security forces fired live ammunition early on Tuesday to disperse an anti-government demonstration in the southern holy city of Karbala, killing at least 20 protesters and wounding hundreds of others.
The renewed protests in Iraq came weeks after an earlier wave of rallies broke out as a result of widespread anger at high-level corruption, mass unemployment and poor public services. More than 250 people have been killed in this month’s demonstrations in the capital Baghdad and several southern cities.
“ they are firing live Ammunition “ #Karbala , the government quelled the protest in a very violent way, crimes were committed and unknown number of casualties so far. #Iraq pic.twitter.com/PEAJxFgVeu
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) October 28, 2019
Protesters in Karbala rip apart a public banner that includes the pic of Iranian supreme leader Khamenai(put there by Badr organization) alongside chants for Iran to leave #Iraq pic.twitter.com/KSeObu8mT8
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) October 6, 2019
Breaking : Karbala, they are using force against civil protesters pic.twitter.com/ntZbexIPjH
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) October 28, 2019
The ongoing turmoil has broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq, which has endured the 2003 United States-led invasion and protracted fighting, including against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
The overnight violence left at least 20 people dead and 865 others wounded, medical and security sources said.
Three protesters also died in the southern city of Nassiriya from wounds sustained in earlier protests.
Ali al-Nashmi, an Iraqi academic at Al-Mustansiriya University, told Al Jazeera the demonstrations were unlikely to die down, leaving the government with little choice but to eventually step down.
“Iraqis’ main demands are [for the government] to address the issue of corruption, to step down, and for a new election to be held,” al-Nashmi said.
Outrage at the high death toll
Between October 1 and 9, Human Rights Watch documented how security forces used excessive lethal force in confronting rock-throwing protesters, killing 149 and injuring 5,494. Security forces also shot at protesters as they dispersed and sprayed them with scalding water.
Following public outrage at the high death toll, Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi on October 22 approved the recommendations of an investigation into the deaths. These included firing senior security officials and investigating senior officials. The investigation found that 70 percent of those killed had died from bullet wounds to the head or chest. It said the authorities should also refer commanders implicated in abuses to the judiciary.
Sistani demands investigation over protester deaths
Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani gave the Iraqi government a two-week deadline to find out which “undisciplined elements” had used snipers to shoot demonstrators, in an apparent reference to the Iran-backed militias who are accused of a role in the crackdown.
Al-Sistani “demands that the government investigate to find out which elements gave orders to shoot protesters, whatever their affiliation,” a representative of the cleric said during a sermon in the holy city of Karbala.
‘No to the curfew’
In Baghdad, anti-government demonstrators defied a curfew imposed by the authorities from midnight until 6am local time. Scores of protesters occupied central Tahrir Square while others tried to cross a bridge leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where government offices and the US embassy are based.
“No to the curfew, we will remain here. The curfew is one of their [the government] filthy games,” a young protester, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Al Jazeera.
According to Dlawer Ala’aldeen, a Middle East expert and founder of Middle East Research Institute, the government’s curfew declaration aims to keep protesters in their homes so demonstrations die down.
“The curfew is a method by the government to hurry out its plans by evacuating the main areas and squares from the demonstrators,” Ala’aldeen told Al Jazeera.
Earlier on Monday, at least two anti-government protesters were killed and more than 100 wounded in clashes with security forces in Baghdad as thousands of students joined the demonstration in defiance of a government order and tear gas fired by security forces.
Iraqi soldiers were seen beating high school students with batons in two Baghdad districts. A defence ministry statement condemned the incident and said the troops did not represent the army as a whole. It did not say if they would be punished.
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