Medical sources in Iraq reported, on Monday, that the death toll of 20 demonstrators in Iraq has risen to 20 Green Zone clashes In central Baghdad, where a state of chaos prevailed after Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from politics, which sparked anger among his supporters who stormed the government palace, while the army imposed a general curfew, according to Archyde.com.
About 350 protesters were injured – some by bullets, others by inhaling tear gas. AFP correspondents reported shooting with live ammunition at the entrances to the heavily guarded Green Zone, which houses government offices and embassies.
For his part, Al Arabiya correspondent reported that two Iraqi soldiers were killed in clashes inside the Green Zone.
The Chief of Staff of the Federal Police was injured
The Iraqi “Alsumaria” channel also reported that the Chief of Staff of the Federal Police, Ahmed Hatem Al-Asadi, was injured during the clashes that took place today, Monday, in the Green Zone in the capital, Baghdad.
The channel quoted an unnamed security source as saying that al-Asadi was wounded, along with one of his security personnel.
And medical sources had previously told AFP that 15 supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr were killed and 270 other demonstrators were wounded, some of them were shot and others were caused by inhaling tear gas.
Iraqi security forces in Baghdad – AFP, August 29, 2022
shoot
Eyewitnesses told AFP of an exchange of fire between supporters of the Sadrist movement and their opponents in the “coordinating framework”, which is considered pro-Iran.
In addition, the army announced the imposition of a curfew in Baghdad from 3:30 in the afternoon and then in all parts of Iraq at 7 in the evening, and police patrols were conducted in the capital, after the crisis deepened in Iraq, which is in a political impasse since the October 2021 legislative elections. .
The situation deteriorated in the center of the Iraqi capital, and hundreds of Sadrist supporters stormed the prime minister’s headquarters in the afternoon, after Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the most important actors in Iraqi politics, suddenly announced his “permanent” retirement from political work.
A security source told AFP that security forces intervened and fired tear gas canisters to disperse the demonstrators at the entrances to the fortified Green Zone, while al-Sadr’s supporters stormed office rooms and sat on sofas, jumped in the pool or took selfies.
It is noteworthy that this step of retirement comes at a sensitive time in the country, especially since the ongoing political crisis since the last parliamentary elections that took place on the tenth of October (2021), exacerbated last July (2022) with the intensification of the dispute between the Sadrist movement and the framework that includes Nuri al-Maliki. Al-Fateh Alliance, and pro-Iran factions and parties.