Militants from one of the tribes of Iraq carried out a military parade in Dhi Qar Governorate (south of the country) on Tuesday evening, in protest against the army's search of the home of the sheikh of their tribe in search of a kidnapped activist, and they warned that if the government did not officially apologize for that, they would escalate the situation.
Dhi Qar Police Lieutenant Tahsin al-Khaldoun said that verbal altercations took place between the army and gunmen from the Al-Asakrah tribe in the district of Sayed Dakhil (east of Dhi Qar), against the background of the army’s search of the house of the sheikh of the Al-Asakirah tribe, Kazem bin Shabram.
Al-Khaldoun added to Anadolu Agency that hundreds of tribe militants had poured into the Sayed Dakhil area, after the incident of searching the home of the tribe’s sheikh, and they performed a kind of military parade in the city center.
He indicated that the army forces are searching for two suspects in kidnapping the Iraqi activist Sajjad.
Activists on social networking shared a video of the demonstration by gunmen from the Al-Asakrah tribe, and another video of a statement in the name of the tribe.
Watch
an armed military parade in the Sayed Dakhil area and the arrival of supplies from the Bani Khikan clans in Basra to the Al-Asakra tribe after security forces by order of Al-Kazemi override the symbols and sheikhs of the district # Play_Review_Kazemi pic.twitter.com/mhvDQdrxKJ
- Noor Al-Bayati #HST (@ nuwr_2) September 22, 2020
For its part, the Asakrah tribe called on the government to submit a formal apology to the tribe’s sheikh, and warned in a statement that otherwise the tribe would take escalatory steps in accordance with the freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by the constitution, and the sanctity of transgressing societal values and customs.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi sent the forces of the Counter-Terrorism Service to Dhi Qar, to join the local police in the search for the kidnapped activist.
#Video .. the word of the Al-Asakrah Sheikhs demanding that Al-Kazemi submit an official apology to the head of the Al-Asakrah tribe over the raid on his home pic.twitter.com/kmmptzBK5q
- Al Ahed Channel (@AhadTv) September 22, 2020
Last Saturday, the activist in the protests, Sajjad Al-Iraqi, was kidnapped, while another activist accompanied by him was wounded after an attempt to kidnap him by unknown gunmen failed.
And on Sunday, the police said in a statement that they had reached clues to uncover the perpetrators by determining where the hijackers' vehicles had headed.
Since last October, Iraq has witnessed unprecedented popular protests interspersed with acts of violence that have left 565 protesters and security personnel dead, according to the government.
The protesters forced the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign last December, and the government of Mustafa Al-Kazemi replaced it since last May.
The protesters insist on the departure and accountability of the political elite accused of corruption and waste of state funds, which have ruled since 2003.