Iraqi authorities have set up committees to investigate the deaths of more than 100 people, most of them demonstrators who were shot dead, while security forces launched a campaign of mass arrests in Samarra.

In detail, the Iraqi authorities have ordered the formation of two new commissions of inquiry into the deaths of recent demonstrations. The first committee, headed by the Joint Operations Command, will investigate «cases of martyrdom and injury among demonstrators and members of the security services and attacks on facilities, infrastructure and the media».

The second committee comprises the relevant ministries, the security services and representatives of the judiciary, parliament and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate and bring to justice military personnel who have committed abuses.

The Prime Minister said that the latter committee was "in response to the speech of the supreme religious authority."

Between October 1 and 6, at least 108 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured, according to the government Human Rights Commission.

The overwhelming majority of those killed were protesters who demanded jobs, public services and the fight against corruption, and were hit by live bullets that authorities said were "unknown snipers" behind them.

For human rights defenders and Iraqis who are able to express their views on social media through applications to circumvent the Internet blocking in the country or abroad, the police are responsible.

Either the security forces fired, they said, or they failed to protect protesters from sniper fire.

The "victory" coalition, headed by former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in parliament, sought to gather enough votes to hold Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, but to no avail.

During Friday prayers, Iraq's religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, stepped up his speech.

Last week, when demonstrations were under way, Sistani declared his support for the anti-corruption demands of the demonstrators, without withdrawing confidence from the government.

But in his Friday sermon, he said directly that "the government and its security services are responsible for the heavy bloodshed that has been shed in the demonstrations of the past days."

He said that the government is responsible "when armed elements outside the law, under the eyes of the security forces, targeting demonstrators and sniping, and assault on certain media in order to intimidate the workers," setting a deadline of two weeks for the authorities to announce the results of its investigations.

The Iraqi military command acknowledged the occurrence of "excessive use of force" on only two occasions during clashes with protesters in the predominantly Shiite city of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, and in the killing of a protester by a riot police officer in Babylon south of the capital.

In the meantime, Iraqi security forces launched a campaign of large-scale arrests in the district of Samarra (120 km north of Baghdad) as the approach of the 40th visit in Iraq.

The Samarra Operations Command said in a statement yesterday that «its forces and forces of the Peace Brigades of the Sadrist movement, which controls the area arrested 148 citizens on different charges ranging from terrorism and criminal cases».

The statement added that «all were referred to the judiciary for interrogation in the terrorism and criminal charges», pointing out that 37 of them are wanted to eliminate the background of terrorist acts, while the remaining number «111 people» under criminal cases.

The Iraqi security authorities take firm action every year as the season of religious visits draws near, and often resort to precautionary detention against suspected criminal or terrorist acts.

On the other hand, an Iraqi military source in the province of Nineveh yesterday, killing four soldiers, including an officer, after an attack by «ISIS» elements at a point near the Iraqi-Syrian border northwest of Mosul (400 km north of Baghdad).

Colonel Shamil Khader of the Iraqi army said that ISIS operatives attacked an Iraqi army post near the Iraqi border with Syria on the outskirts of Ba'aj district, killing four soldiers, including a colonel, before fleeing to an unknown destination.

Several areas of Nineveh province, especially near the Syrian border in northwest Iraq, continue to see activity by IS cells, which carry out various armed operations against security forces and civilians that have forced dozens of families to flee to Mosul.

In a related development, an Iraqi military statement said yesterday that the Iraqi F-16 fighter jets launched yesterday, an attack on the positions of ISIS northwest of Hamrin Lake in Diyala province.

A statement issued by the security media cell in the Iraqi Joint Operations Command that «Iraqi F_16 aircraft carried out air strikes targeting three targets anti-ISIS under the supervision of the Joint Operations Command, based on accurate intelligence, and that the targets are a major stockpile of weapons and materiel and dens located Northwest of Hamrin Lake in Diyala province.

He explained that «strikes resulted in the destruction of these targets and the killing of terrorist elements».

Iraqi forces launch almost daily military operations targeting IS cells, dens and weapons depots in different parts of Iraq.

Iraqi F-16 fighter jets destroy three ISIS positions in Diyala province.