Iraqi security forces fire hunting rifles at Baghdad protesters

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi security forces have reportedly resorted to using hunting rifles that cause painful scarring on the country’s anti-government protesters, drawing international criticism as well as local campaign by protesters to end their use.

Iraqi protesters have been on the streets for nearly five months to demand an overhaul of the political and electoral system, and for the post-2003 political class they accuse of endemic corruption to leave authority.

Since protests began, Iraqi security forces and Iran-backed militias have responded with deadly violence, killing over 600 protesters and injuring well over 15,000.

In their campaign to shut the persistent protests down, Iraqi security forces have been firing hunting rifles, protesters say. Their use has occurred most frequently in Khilani Square, a major protest epicenter in the capital city of Baghdad.

Salwan Sayf, a participant in Baghdad protests since their beginning, told Rudaw on Monday that rifles are being used against protesters daily.

“These skirmishes [between protesters and security forces] on daily bases lead to many injuries, some of which are dangerous,” Sayf said, describing the clashes as the “Battle of Pellets”.

Another witness, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, also told Rudaw that both security forces and protesters are using the rifles.

“With use of the rudimentary hunting weapon, the fight between anti-riot forces and protesters near Baghdad municipality continues,” the witness said.

“The ammunition, namely pellets, cost no more than a few paltry dinars, but they cause critical and painful injuries, and might cause someone to lose their eyes or die if it hits a sensitive area of the body,” the witness added.

Iraqis on Twitter launched an English and Arabic campaign to call on international intervention to force an end to rifle use against the protesters, with the hashtag #StopHuntingUs.

Social media users posted dozens of images on social media that purportedly show protesters with dozens of bodily scars caused by the rifle fire.

There are no exact figures on how many protesters have been injured by hunting rifle fire, but in her condemnation of their use against protesters, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) offered an estimate of over 50 injuries over the course of three nights.

“UNAMI continues to receive credible allegations of peaceful protester targetting by ‘hunting guns’ on the road between al-Tahrir Square and al-Khilani Square in Baghdad in the evening of 14, 15, and 16 February, injuring at least 50,” UNAMI chief Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a Monday statement. 

The UNAMI chief further added that the mission has also received reports of 150 protester injuries in the holy city of Karbala due to the use of “similar kinetic impact projectiles” in January alone, further adding that security forces may have also been injured.

Plasschaert “strongly condemns the use of hunting rifles with birdshot, which caused (yet again) high numbers of casualties in recent protests,” the statement added.

The Iraqi government has yet to address allegations of hunting rifle use against protesters. The UNAMI  chief urged Iraqi authorities to hold perpetrators accountable and put an end to the use of force against protesters.

“The continued pattern of the use of excessive force, with ambiguously identified armed groups and unclear loyalties, is a grave security concern that must be tackled urgently and decisively. Peaceful protesters should be protected at all times,” the statement added.

Iraqi security forces have already been internationally condemned for their methods of repression, including the fire of heavy military grade tear gas canisters at protesters' bodies.

The canisters cause horrific injuries and even death upon bodily impact, while their military grade contents cause a more severe feeling of suffocation than normal tear gas.

With a new government being formed in the coming days, protesters remain adamant that they don’t want prime minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi to take on the role. They have instead opted to nominate Dr. Alla al-Rikaby, himself a protester and prominent activist, for the premiership