Yesterday night, protesters set fire to a number of political party headquarters in the city of Nasiriyah (the center of Dhi Qar governorate in the south of the country), and local sources said that these events were a reaction to the security forces' suppression of demonstrators in Karbala (south of Baghdad), who participated, Tuesday, At the ceremony commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the killing of Imam Hussein, may God be pleased with him.
A Dhi Qar police officer said that a number of demonstrators set fire to the headquarters of the Badr Organization (led by Hadi al-Ameri) and Tayyar al-Hikma (led by Ammar al-Hakim) in the city of Nasiriyah.
The officer, who asked not to be named, added that the civil defense teams put out the fire without causing any casualties, as the headquarters was empty.
According to eyewitnesses, other headquarters were set on fire, explaining that the protesters were angry at the repression of their colleagues in Karbala.
Clashes erupted between demonstrators and security personnel in Karbala yesterday, as hundreds of supporters and participants in the popular movement tried to enter the shrine of Imam Hussein, and the protesters were commemorating protesters who were killed during the months of anti-government protests last year, during which more than 550 people were killed, and about Another 24,000, most of them were shot by security forces and armed groups.
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Repression and attack that took place today on the procession of the martyrs of the October Revolution in front of the door to the Qibla of Imam Hussein
A post shared by Hüssein Ali (@ d.x_4) on Oct 6, 2020 at 6:32 am PDT
What happened in Karbala
and about what happened in Karbala, witnesses said that protesters organized a march to the shrine, and some of them became angry when they were not allowed access to the shrine, at which time the security forces beat the protesters with batons and electric sticks.
A security official in Karbala said that the protesters came as part of a group of visitors, and added that part of the group had turned to violence before their tour of the shrine, and that the security forces had intervened to remove them from the place and dispersed them by force.
The Security Media Cell (affiliated with the Ministry of Defense) said in a statement that during the forty-day visit ceremony of Imam Hussein in the city of Karbala, a number of demonstrators gathered, and confirmed that the demonstrators went to the Imam's shrine through a road not designated for entry, and they were alerted.
She added that "some intruders" created friction by throwing stones at the security force in charge of protecting the visitors. After that, resolute measures were taken against them. The statement did not reveal the nature of the measures taken.
Videos posted by Iraqis on social media showed the moment the security forces attacked the procession of protesters participating in the Arbaeen visit.
Statement of the Shrines
About what happened yesterday in Karbala, the Department of Rituals, Processions and Husseini Commissions in Iraq and the Islamic World of the Hussaini and Abbasid Shrines in Karbala, which is affiliated with the Shiite Endowment in Iraq, issued a statement detailing what happened.
The statement stressed that "any procession that is not registered with us, cannot go down in the daily schedule of condolences, because it did not obtain the legal procedures that guarantee the safety of the mourners and visitors, and thus will be prevented from entering in order to preserve the safety of everyone, given that the processions that meet the conditions enter without inspection."
He indicated that what happened to a convoy from Dhi Qar governorate that wanted to enter was the participants' insistence on entering the mourning area without obtaining any fundamental approvals, explaining that when they were informed of the instructions and therefore they had to withdraw, they refused, and wanted to enter by force, so the security forces confronted them to prevent them, for violating the applicable controls. .
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- Muqtada al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr (@Mu_AlSadr) October 6, 2020
Al-Sadr threatens
In the wake of the Karbala events, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, threatened to intervene in his private and public way if the security forces did not protect the holy sites of what he called "infiltrators" among the "so-called October Revolution" who had perverted ideas or "ISIS or Baathist" tendencies.
Al-Sadr called on those he described as the fans of the family of al-Bayt and the believers to be patient and wait for orders, noting that the "technicians" cannot demonstrate in the future if they do not disavow the participants in the Tishreen Revolutionaries' parade in Karbala.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces @MAKadhimi calls on the security services to deal professionally with the demonstrators, to observe the principles of human rights and respect freedom of opinion, expression and demonstration, and at the same time stresses his total rejection of aggression and encroachment on the security forces as they perform their security tasks in maintaining security.
- Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa Al-Kazemi (@ DL4zsi9EiLOvSj1) October 5, 2020
Yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi chaired the first meeting of the Supreme Security Committee, and said that this committee, which is made up of the security executive agencies and the Security and Defense Committee in the House of Representatives, represents the opinion of national unity.
Al-Kazemi explained that the parties that killed and injured innocent citizens are harming the future of Iraq and its relations, indicating that this matter has exceeded its limits in light of the complex crises the country is going through.
Al-Kazemi said that Iraq is going through a real test phase, which puts everyone before a historic responsibility.