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Iraq
Iraqi mourners carry the coffin of an anti-government protester killed in Nasiriyah during a funerary procession in the city of Najaf on November 28, 2019. Photo: AFP / Haidar Hamdani
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Though the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister has been accepted by Iraqi parliament, the southern Iraqi province of Dhi Qar continues to reel after an exceptionally deadly government crackdown on protesters earlier this week. A protester in the province spoke to Rudaw English, vowing to continue protests until the country’s political class is removed in its entirety.
A site of some of the most persistent protest in the past two months of anti-government demonstrations in Iraq, Dhi Qar bore witness to a bloodbath.
In the provincial capital of Nasiriyah, security forces opened fire, killing 25 protesters in two days beginning on November 27.
The lethal violence led Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani - the highest Shiite cleric in Iraq - to call on the Iraqi PM and government to resign immediately.
On Thursday, the Security Media Cell of the Joint Operations Command of Iraq announced that “due to the importance of controlling security,” Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi decided to establish “crisis cells” in Iraq’s protest-hit provinces. A Staff General named Jameel al-Shammari was seconded to Dhi Qar’s crisis cell.
Samir*, 29, was protesting in Nasiriyah when the Shammari-led forces arrived in the city. Speaking to Rudaw English on Sunday, he described what he had seen as a “massacre.”
“We were on Nasiriyah’s bridges to make sure we blocked all the roads that lead to the governmental institutions, to keep the nationwide strike alive,” Samir said.
“When Jameel al-Shammari arrived in the city at 3:00 am on Thursday, the massacre began as the forces of Jameel al-Shimmari opened fire at the protesters on the bridges and on the streets.”
As reports of mass casualties emerged, the Security Media Cell announced the general was being recalled to Baghdad to “clarify” events.
Iraq’s highest judicial authority announced the formation of a committee to investigate Dhi Qar’s death toll on Friday. It issued an arrest warrant and a travel ban against Shammari on Sunday.
This year’s unrest has not been the first time protesters have died while Shammari has been in a position of command.
He was at the helm of Basra Operations Command last year, when security force response to protests in the oil-rich yet poverty-wracked province turned deadly. He was later removed by then-Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
“Tribe members are currently carrying weapons in the city, seeking revenge on Jameel al-Shimmari who killed so many of Nasiriyah’s young people,” Samir said. “They are also stationed on the main roads that lead to Nasiriyah’s city center.”
Uptake of arms by tribe members in Nasiriyah was reported by Iraqi state media outlet INA early on Sunday – though it instead reported they had taken up arms to help Iraqi security forces prevent ‘outsiders’ or militias from entering the city.
Protesters in Nasiriyah told Rudaw English in October that pro-Iran militias had attempted to smother protest by firing at protesters.
Since protests began on October 1, at least 380 protesters and security force personnel have been killed, according to Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights. 16,000 people have been wounded.
Following this week’s deadly crackdown, Abdul-Mahdi announced on Friday afternoon he would submit his resignation to the Iraqi parliament. Parliament officially approved his resignation letter on Sunday.
The end of the unrest, however, seems far from nigh. Protesters have long been calling not only for Abdul-Mahdi’s resignation, but for a total overhaul of the Iraqi political system.
Protests in Nasiriyah would not waver, Samir said; to stop now would be to throw away the collective sacrifice of the last two months.
Editor's note: To protect his identity, the protester who spoke to Rudaw English has been given a pseudonym.
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