Iraq witnessed angry demonstrations yesterday, after 23 of the demonstrators were killed in a bloody attack by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad, while the house of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, was attacked by a drone, and he called on the Iraqi parliament to hold an emergency session tomorrow, in the presence of the highest security leaders , To discuss countering the targeting of peaceful protesters.
In detail, the police and medical sources said that the death toll from the attack, which was carried out by gunmen, the day before yesterday, on demonstrators in Al-Khilani Square and Al-Senak Bridge near Al-Tahrir Square, had risen to 23, the deadliest accident in the Iraqi capital for weeks. The police and medical sources said that Another 127 people were shot and stabbed during the attack.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the demonstrators, after they briefly took control of a building occupied by the protesters for weeks near Jisr Al-Sinak, in the absence of any reaction from the security forces.
Amid the panic, the protesters called on social media, people to join them, and gather in the central Tahrir Square in the center of the capital. Indeed, hundreds arrived at the square before dawn yesterday, then thousands of protesters took out throughout the day, to the streets in the cities of the south and Baghdad To condemn the attack.
Unidentified gunmen passed in a convoy of cars on the main street overlooking the river, which leads to Tahrir Square, and opened fire towards the square, the day before yesterday also. Witnesses said that the masked armed gunmen roamed the street near the square and tried to advance to it, but they returned their stairs. At a checkpoint of the Iraqi security forces.
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, huge gatherings of protesters angry at the events in Baghdad came out yesterday, and security forces deployed in the city where the demonstrations continued despite the bloody repression that occurred last week, and left more than 20 people dead, while thousands of demonstrators went out in Diwaniya, amid a heavy spread For the security forces.
To that, a droning plane targeted, yesterday morning, the house of Muqtada Al-Sadr in Najaf, with a mortar shell, and a source in the Sadrist movement confirmed that the shell landed at the outer wall of Al-Sadr's house, when he was in Iran, according to what several sources confirmed.
Iraqi President Barham Salih described the attack on the demonstrators in central Baghdad as a "criminal attack", and said in a press statement: "We are following with great care and deep pain, with the relevant government agencies, what happened from the armed criminal attack by criminal gangs, and outlaws, A number of martyrs and wounded were killed in the popular protest.
He added: "We reaffirm once again the legitimate right of any citizen to protest peacefully and protest, and to prevent and criminalize any armed and violent response against peaceful demonstrators."
For his part, Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Hassan Al-Kaabi, called for an emergency session tomorrow, in the presence of the high security leaders, especially the Baghdad Operations Command, to discuss confronting the targeting of peaceful demonstrators. Al-Kaabi said in a statement that “security leaders should assume their responsibilities in preserving The security of peaceful demonstrations demanding reform, change and combating corruption, ”stressing the necessity of tightening security measures to save the lives of protesting protestors in Baghdad and the provinces.
The Iraqi Deputy Speaker of Parliament stated that all parties and personalities involved in the killing of demonstrators in Baghdad and the provinces will be held accountable, as well as the air targeting of the Hanana region in Najaf, and in the same context, the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee called for an emergency session to be held on the attack on demonstrators in Baghdad. .
127 people were shot and stabbed during the attack near Tahrir Square.