Over 17 demonstrators injured in riots in Baghdad

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Oct 2022 18:25
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Security forces reportedly used tear gas to disperse protesters marching near the bridge to Baghdad's Green Zone.

Protesters in Baghdad

Iraqi broadcaster Al Sumaria reported on Saturday that seventeen protestors got injured in the clashes between police and demonstrators in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

"Seventeen people, including six security officers, were injured due to stone-throwing and use of shotguns by protesters, as well as explosions of Molotov cocktails," the source was quoted by Al Sumeria as saying. So far, two protestors have been arrested.

According to the sources mentioned, the Republic Bridge in central Baghdad was particularly the center of violent protests where witnesses saw police use tear gas to disperse protesters, despite that the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi instructed Iraqi forces not to do so.

Preparations to block the anti-government protests started on Friday with the installment of a number of blocks in the streets of Iraq's capital city.

🔴 #BAGHDAD
Security forces resort to tear gas to disperse protesters on Jumhuriya bridge of Baghdad. #Iraq #Baghdad pic.twitter.com/dbtE3eE3Rd
— Sardar Sattar (@SardarSattar) October 1, 2022

On September 28, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Iraq reported that several explosions were heard near the Green Zone while Iraqis were trying to reach their destination, attributing the explosions to rockets striking the area.

"The Green Zone in Baghdad was hit by three rockets that landed in the area, the first of which landed in front of the Parliament building," the Iraqi media cell reported.

"The shelling wounded one officer and three non-commissioned officers and damaged a vehicle, as well as a government building," the media cell added.

"Gunshots are being heard near the Al-Jumhuriya bridge as others tried to knock over the concrete blocks blocking the Sanak bridge in the face of demonstrators trying to make it into the Green Zone," Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.

Sources reported on September 27 that Iraqi security forces shot down a drone that was spotted near the Green Zone, a heavily guarded government compound in Baghdad's capital.

Documentation:
A member of the security forces in charge of suppressing demonstrations in Iraq throws a grenade at peaceful demonstrators #October_Revolution_will_win #thishreen_Great_Revolution pic.twitter.com/mazn3ydFlv
— 🇮🇶عراقية الهوى 2 الخاص مهمل 😐🇮🇶 (@baghdad_baloma0) October 1, 2022

Several clashes ensued in the months of July and August between Al-Sadr's supporters and security forces. They stormed the Iraqi parliament in the Green Zone several times in protest of corruption and the Coordination Framework's nomination of Mohammad Shiya Al-Sudani for Prime Minister.

The situation later began to stabilize after al-Sadr issued a speech in which he called on his supporters to leave Baghdad's Green Zone and cease confrontations with security forces and Shiite militias that joined them. Al-Sadr advised his supporters to withdraw in order to "preserve the reputation of the revolutionaries and avoid harming the people."

On September 7, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq rejected the lawsuit submitted by a number of leaders of the Sadrist movement calling for the dissolution of the Council of Representatives, citing that dissolving the Council is not within its competence.

The head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq, Faiq Zaidan, called on September 10 for a review of the drafting of the articles of the constitution that caused the political impasse in the country against the background of the Sadrist movement’s demand to dissolve parliament and the coordination framework's insistence to form a government first.

BAGHDAD IRAQ:

Right now Al-Jumhuriya Bridge.
The protesters are still trying to cross the bridge and the security forces repel them. pic.twitter.com/7YKAPhVBYT
— Ali Almikdam علي المگدام (@ali_almikdam) October 1, 2022

Most recent updates reveal that the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament's resignation got rejected during a Parliament session and confidence got renewed. The Iraqi parliament held a session on Wednesday to vote on Mohamed Al-Halbousi's resignation and elect a deputy speaker.

Al-Halbousi had called earlier this month for a date for early parliamentary elections to be included on the agenda of the national dialogue session and the election of the provincial councils no later than the end of next year.

The vote "renewed the confidence in Parliament Speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi, with 222 members of parliament rejecting his resignation," the Iraqi parliament said in a statement.