Shooting, tribal bites, and explosive devices .. Iraqi Nasiriyah is a city that never sleeps

Al-Jazeera Net-Dhi Qar

A few days ago, a lawyer defending the demonstrators in the courts in Dhi Qar Governorate (southern Iraq) was subjected to an unsuccessful assassination attempt, after unidentified gunmen shot him and then fled, in front of the gaze of pedestrians in a street in Nasiriyah (the governorate center).

In the city of Al-Shatrah, north of Nasiriyah, a citizen was shot in the middle of the street by unknown persons, due to a financial dispute, and he died, as well as unknown gunmen opened fire on a house south of Nasiriyah due to a dispute over a plot of land, and unknown persons targeted two houses, one of a teacher and the other of a grenade activist, which caused Material damage.

These incidents have been repeated in Dhi Qar since the outbreak of popular demonstrations in Iraq in October, amid a security silence, despite reporting from the security authorities to take appropriate measures, and in most cases the case remains pending until further notice.

The night of the province usually witnesses armed tribal conflicts, or what is known locally as "the tribal deck", as well as assassinations of activists, as well as the spread of organized crime gangs and drug dealers, and the exacerbation of the phenomenon of personal revenge that ends with killings.

Armed quarrels
In Dhi Qar, there were approximately 15 targeted homemade bombs, for activists, teachers, citizens, and former officials who were seeking tribal revenge, while about ten assassinations took place throughout the province as well.

Since the withdrawal of police officers from the main streets last November, murders, robbery, drug-activist activities, and shootings have increased in public events.

A security officer says that the confrontations between the demonstrators and the security forces and the deaths and injuries caused by them prompted the state to direct the security forces not to carry arms, which contributed to the exacerbation of the phenomenon of killing and the emergence of armed groups.

He adds to Al-Jazeera Net, that the security services are not oblivious, but what happened in the demonstrations caused confusion to the security forces and prevented the police from carrying out their duties, and the rebellion of some clans in their conflicts that returned to the facade again.

General system
Iraqi law criminalizes the use and use of unlicensed personal weapons, and approved various penalties, and the Supreme Judicial Council issued a decision to consider the phenomenon of "clan deck" a terrorist crime whose provisions amount to temporary imprisonment, life imprisonment, or even death, according to the circumstances, as human rights lawyer Ali Hussein Jaber says to Al Jazeera Net .

He adds, but the absence of law enforcement will make the laws without claws easy to violate, especially since the laws, including the current Criminal Procedure Law and the National Safety Law as well as the Public Prosecution Law No. 49 of 2017, obligated police officers to enforce and implement the law.

Jaber adds that it is not permissible for any security official to fail to perform his duties under the pretext that there is no order or otherwise, because the laws are binding and are higher than the instructions issued by the ministries, and the security man was subjected to legal and criminal accountability when duties fell short.

Loss of balance
And the activist Hussein Al-Ghurabi considered that the continued deterioration of security by changing security leaders by an unfulfilled decision, especially if some of the leaderships were partisan, would make the matter worse.

For his part, the sheikh of one of the tribes of Dhi Qar Muhammad al-Aboudi said that there are clans that do not fear power, and have sought to equip themselves with weapons for months for fear of the collapse of the security situation, especially after the violence that witnessed the demonstrations in Nasiriyah.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, he said that the clans are a supportive part of the security forces and have many positions that confirm this and have recently emerged in the demonstration arenas, and that there are clans trying to use the current conditions to settle their accounts, which is unacceptable among the large tribes in the province, and calls on the security forces to take their role to hold accountable those who are trying to disturb Security, he says.