Sadr’s supporters stormed an anti-government protest camp in Najaf’s Sadrayn Square. Live rounds and petrol bombs were used against protesters during clashes, and their tents burned or removed.
Citing medical sources, Rudaw’s Hiwa Husamaden in Najaf reported on Thursday that 11 protesters were killed and 210 injured in the clashes, with the injured being treated at the city’s Hakeem Hospital.
Medical and security sources on Wednesday told Reuters that at least eight people were killed. Citing medics, AFP reported seven killed due to gunshots to chest or head.
“This is a protester area. We have not blocked a road, a school, or prevented a college from being open,” a protester said, who had claimed that on Wednesday an agreement had been reached between protesters and Sadr's militia that they would be left alone if no roads or schools were blocked.
“Where is justice? Where is the commander of Najaf’s police? Where is the Governor of Najaf?” another protester asked.
Iraq's interior minister Yassin al-Yasseri met with police officials in Najaf last night in response to the clashes, according to Iraqi state media.
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi called on the Iraqi government to protect protesters.
“The painful events taking place currently push me to call on the brothers of the current government to carry out their tasks of protecting protesters, until the formation of a government that meets the aspirations of Iraqis,” Allawi said in a Wednesday tweet.
Iraqi protesters have been on the streets across Baghdad and the mainly Shiite-majority provinces of the south since October 1, 2019, to protest against rampant corruption and the political system. Protesters have been met with deadly violence, including live rounds and military grade tear gas canisters. No one has been held to account for over 600 protester deaths and thousands of injuries.
Sadr, a vocal supporter of reform and anti-corruption campaigns for years, had deployed members of his his Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) militia - known as the Blue Caps - to protect the protesters over the course of their movement.
But following a large anti-US presence protest in late January, Sadr ordered the Blue Caps to withdraw from protester squares - paving the road for a security force crackdown on protesters, evicting them from some of the public squares that have housed protest.
Last Friday, Sadr called on supporters to return to the protests - but warned his supporters against blocking main roads and school strike action.
Tensions between protesters of Najaf and the Blue Caps had been running high for days prior to Wednesday night’s clashes. Najaf governor Yasseri announced an agreement had been struck on Monday for the Blue Caps to withdraw from the city’s streets and act only to support security forces.
Mohammed Salih al-Iraqi, considered to be either Sadr’s Twitter persona or a close affiliate, warned against aggression towards the Blue Caps on Monday.
“Whosoever carries weapons against them [Blue Caps] is a saboteur and infiltrator, and security forces have to be firm in their dealing with infiltrators among protesters,” Iraqi said.
Blue Caps have a “duty” to “peacefully” secure schools and government service buildings and “establish security, protect revolutionaries”, Sadr said on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a Saraya al-Salam official denied to state media that they are responsible for the violence against protesters, instead blaming “unknown groups” for the violence.
“Unknown groups attacked the Sadrayn Square in holy Najaf with grenades and assaulting peaceful protestors and the Blue Caps,” Safa al-Tamimi, military spokesperson of the militia said.
“There are parties who are working on causing sedition so that life comes to a halt again in the province, and we have videos documenting the attack and all have been handed to the security forces,” Tamimi claimed.
