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Supporters of an influential Iraqi Shiite cleric fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns into Iraq’s Green Zone when security forces resumed firing on Tuesday, ending months of political strife in the country. The crisis has seriously escalated.
Officials said the death toll rose to at least 30 after two days of unrest.
Abe cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who abruptly resigned Monday amid the political deadlock, stormed the Green Zone, once a stronghold of US forces and now home to Iraqi government agencies and foreign embassies. In the turmoil, at least one of his countries has evacuated a diplomat.
Al-Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in the October parliamentary elections, but not enough to secure a government majority, leaving the Iraqi government in a stalemate, with numbers between different Shiite factions increasing. Months of infighting have been unleashed. Al-Sadr has refused to negotiate with his Iran-backed Shia rival, and his withdrawal on Monday has plunged Iraq into political uncertainty and instability with no clear path forward.
Iraqi protests: Multiple dead, dozens injured after hundreds storm government palace, clash with security forces
The riots threatened to deepen the political crisis, but streets elsewhere in the country remained largely calm and the country’s vital oil continued to flow. Iran has closed its border with Iraq. This is a sign of Tehran’s concern that chaos could spread.
Live television footage showed al-Sadr supporters firing both heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades through part of the demolished concrete wall into the heavily fortified Green Zone. Bystanders appeared oblivious to the danger and filmed the shootout on their mobile phones.
A line of armored tanks stood opposite the barrier surrounding the Green Zone when al-Sadr’s forces opened fire.
At least one injured man was carried away in a three-wheeled rickshaw. The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs is visible in the background.
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At least 30 people have been killed and more than 400 injured, two Iraqi medical officials said. The toll included both an al-Sadr supporter killed in the previous day’s protests and clashes overnight. Those numbers are expected to rise, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the journalists weren’t authorized to release the information.
Members of Iraq’s Shiite Muslim sect were repressed when Saddam Hussein ruled the country, but the US-led invasion reversed the political order. and Iraqi nationalist Shiites vying for power, influence and state resources.
Sadr’s nationalist rhetoric and reform agenda resonate strongly with his supporters, who are largely from Iraq’s poorest and historically barred from the political system under Saddam.
His announcement that he was leaving politics implicitly gave his supporters the freedom to act as they saw fit.
Iranian state television cited unrest in Iraqi cities and a military-imposed curfew as reasons for the border closure. He urged Iranians to refrain from traveling to neighboring countries. The decision came at a time when millions of people were preparing to visit Iraq for their annual pilgrimage to Shiite sites, and Tehran was asking Iranian pilgrims already in Iraq to give the city I advise you to avoid any further trips between
Kuwait, meanwhile, called on its citizens to withdraw from Iraq. Her state-run news agency KUNA also urged those wishing to travel to Iraq to postpone their plans.
The tiny Gulf Emirates of Kuwait shares a 254-kilometer (158-mile) long border with Iraq.
The Netherlands has evacuated its embassy in the Green Zone, Foreign Minister Wopke Hekstra tweeted early Tuesday morning.
“There is a firefight around the embassy in Baghdad. Our staff are now working at the German embassy in another part of the city,” Hoekstra wrote.
Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates suspended flights to Baghdad on Tuesday, citing ongoing unrest. The carrier said it was “closely monitoring the situation.” It has not announced when flights will resume.
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On Monday, protesters loyal to the Sadr pulled down a cement barrier outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Thousands flooded the palace’s opulent salons and marble halls, an important meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.
The Iraqi army announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker prime minister suspended a cabinet meeting after violence.