UN Security Council concerned over unrest in Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned the violent intra-Shiite clashes that broke out in Iraq earlier this week, urging all the political actors in the country to engage in “constructive dialogue” to bring an end to the political instability.

At least 30 supporters of influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were killed as a result of deadly clashes that ensued between rival Shiite military factions inside Baghdad’s Green Zone earlier this week, triggered by Sadr’s retirement from the political scene.

Members of the UN Security Council expressed “deep concern” over the instability that Iraq has experienced in recent days, condemning the violence and appealing to the political actors to refrain from further confrontations.

“They [the council] urged all parties to peacefully resolve their political differences, to respect the rule of law, the right of peaceful assembly, and Iraqi institutions, and to avoid violence,” read a statement from the security council.

It also urged dialogue between the political parties in Iraq in hopes of constructing a mechanism out of the political impasse and uncertainty that has plagued the country since the parliamentary elections of October.

Sadr on Tuesday condemned the violence that ensued from the protests under his name, calling on his supporters to end the demonstrations and evacuate Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where they had held a sit-in since late July.

Despite Sadr’s call for ending the violence, his militia Saraya al-Salam and pro-Iran Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) militia groups engaged in heavy confrontations in Iraq’s southern city of Basra on Wednesday, leaving at least four militants killed, according to AFP.

Sadr founded Saraya al-Salam in 2014, often assimilated to his Mahdi Army, a militia group that fought the Americans following their 2003 invasion of Iraq.

AAH is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi), an umbrella group of Shiite paramilitary forces that was formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) under a fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Several forces within the umbrella group are backed by Iran.