BAGHDAD —
Scuffles broke out between protesters and security forces injuring dozens as
thousands gathered Saturday in
Iraq’s capital to mark three years since
nationwide demonstrations erupted against endemic corruption.
اضافة اعلان
The latest
protests in Baghdad come as Iraq has been mired in political paralysis since
elections in October last year that have failed to bring in a new president,
prime minister, or government.
Protesters were
heard chanting “the people demand the fall of the regime” as thousands gathered
on Saturday in Baghdad’s iconic
Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest
movement, an AFP correspondent said.
Many brandished
portraits of the “martyrs” killed in the wave of rallies three years ago.
“Today, it is
essential to confront power,” activist Ali Al-Habib said.
“All the bridges
and roads are blocked because the authorities are afraid of the protesters,” he
added, condemning “infighting within the political class, which completely
ignores the will of the people”.
The
demonstrations seek to revive the unprecedented protests of October 2019 that
condemned rampant unemployment and the country’s decaying infrastructure.
Those protests
raged for months before winding down under the shadow of coronavirus
restrictions and a harsh crackdown that saw at least 600 demonstrators killed
and tens of thousands more wounded.
The protesters on
Saturday gathered at Al-Jumhuriya Bridge, where they attempted to overcome a
series of barriers set up by security forces to block access to the fortified
Green Zone that houses government buildings and diplomatic missions.
Protesters threw
the iron barriers into the river, according to an interior ministry official
who reported 18 minor injuries among riot police resulting from stones and
glass bottles being thrown at them.
Police retaliated
by throwing smoke grenades at the crowd to disperse them, the AFP correspondent
said.
At least 28
protesters suffered from breathing difficulties as a result, according to an
interior ministry official.
‘We will not remain silent’
Rival Shiite factions in parliament have for months vied for power and the
right to select a new prime minister and government.
The impasse pits the powerful cleric
Moqtada Al-Sadr against his rivals the Iran-backed Coordination Framework, which includes
lawmakers from the party of his longtime foe, ex-prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki.
Sadr wants snap elections and the dissolution of
parliament but the Coordination Framework wants a new head of government
appointed before any new polls are held.
Tensions boiled
over into clashes on August 29 between the Sadrists, rival Iran-backed factions
and the army in which more than 30 Sadr supporters were killed, after their
leader said he was quitting politics.
A teacher at the
protest on Saturday lashed out at the “quarrels and confrontations between
leaders” in the country.
“We will not remain
silent in the face of injustice,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On Wednesday, three
unclaimed rockets were fired at Baghdad’s Green Zone, wounding seven security
force personnel, as parliament held its first session in two months, Iraq’s
security forces said.
Cross-border strikes
In parallel with the political impasse in the country, Iraq has also been
gripped by deep economic and environmental crises.
After decades of
war, the oil-rich but conflict-ravaged country has struggled to rebuild.
It has also
repeatedly found itself caught in the crosshairs of geopolitical tensions
stemming from neighboring countries, making it a target of frequent
cross-border strikes from Turkey and, more recently, Iran.
As Iran has been
gripped by nationwide protests over the death of a Kurdish woman in the custody
of the feared morality police, the Islamic republic launched a barrage of
strikes on Wednesday targeting Iranian Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq,
accusing them of stoking unrest back home.
The strikes killed
at least 14 people, including a pregnant woman, while at least 58 others were
wounded, mostly civilians, according to Iraqi Kurdish counter-terrorism forces.
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