ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi President Barham Salih has called on protesters to cooperate against the “outlaws and gangs” in order to bring them to justice after seventeen people were reported dead and dozens more wounded in Friday night's deadly attack on protesters by unknown armed groups in Baghdad.
Unknown armed groups opened fire from vehicles in Khilani Square late on Friday and reportedly aimed to push protesters stationed in Khilani Square, Ahrar Bridge, and Sinak Bridge back toward Tahrir Square, the focal point of Baghdad’s protest movement.
Ahrar, Sinak and Al-Jumhuriyah bridges all lead to the Green Zone (also known as the international zone), the heavily fortified safe haven of the Iraqi federal government and the location of all of Baghdad’s foreign embassies and diplomatic missions.
The most recent lethal targeting of protesters comes only a day after a number of protesters in Baghdad were stabbed, again by unknown forces.
A medic from Tahrir Square published a video confirming the stabbing of nine protesters on Thursday, including six men and three women.
This wave of violence on the streets of Baghdad comes after a brief period of relative quiet and even optimism on the part of protesters, after Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi announced the submission of his resignation to parliament on November 29.
Attacks on the protesters in central Baghdad on Friday prompted President Salih to release a statement “condemning” the attacks on the “peaceful protesters” in Baghdad.
“We are following the awful attack that happened yesterday evening in Baghdad by gangs and outlaws who were armed and opened fire against the protesters,” the statement read. “We call on the protesters and security forces to cooperate in order to preserve the stability in country and face the outlaws.”
The incident follows a statement issued by the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) on Friday warning that a “security escalation” in central Baghdad might lead to a “massacre” of protesters in the area.
Youth took to the streets across southern Iraq on October 1, protesting against a lack of basic services, rampant corruption and high unemployment which have now spun into demands for complete regime change.
More than 420 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed since October 1, with around 16,000 others have been wounded due to clashes between security forces and protesters.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, also “condemned” the shooting incident against unarmed protesters in central Baghdad in a statement released on Saturday.
“Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, condemns in the strongest terms the shooting of unarmed protesters in central Baghdad on Friday night, which left a high number of deaths and injuries among innocent citizens,” the statement read.
Both Hennis-Plasschaert and the US Embassy in Baghdad echoed President Salih’s calls for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The UN statement also warned the Iraqi authorities that “acts of violence that are gang-driven, arising from external loyalties, politically motivated or intended to settle scores, risk placing Iraq on dangerous trajectory.”
The house of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was hit by a drone strike early on Saturday in Najaf province, according to Muhammad Salah al-Iraqi, a source close to Sadr. No casualties were reported.
“Hanana [Sadr's house] was attacked by [an] armed drone at midnight,” al-Iraqi said in a Facebook post on Saturday. “The reason is that yesterday the "Blue Hats" were spread across the streets of Baghdad to protect the protesters from the armed groups.”
The "Blue Hats" are Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam militia members who are unarmed among the protesters, established during the second wave of protests by Sadr to protect the protesters from armed groups.
A commander within Saraya al-Salam, Safaa al-Timimi, responded to the attack by “vowing” to retaliate with “a surprise response."
“At the time when we call for restraint, we announce that investigations are ongoing and we will have a response that no one expects if it is proven that anyone or any party is involved, and that we will not be silent at all,” Timimi tweeted.
The recent escalations in Iraq between armed groups, is a dangerous sign that internal conflict or civil war may be on the cards.
Renewed, lethal targeting of protesters by unknown assailants came after the US Treasury Department announced in a press release that four prominent Iraqi political and paramilitary leaders have been sanctioned for killing protesters, including Qais al-Khazali, the Secretary General of Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and Hussein Falih Aziz al-Lami, a senior PMF commander.
The Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic, are predominantly Shiite paramilitaries that were formed in 2014 after a fatwa (religious decree) issued by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shiite authority in Iraq. Sistani called on Iraq’s Shiites to take up arms as Islamic State (ISIS) loomed uncomfortably close to Baghdad.
After helping defeat ISIS, the PMF gained formidable political power. Despite being formally incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces in 2016, they are often accused of operating above the law and having close ties with Iran.
