Assassination of activist in Karbala sparks rage
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Unknown gunmen assassinated Ihab al-Wazni, a prominent activist in Karbala at dawn on Sunday, Iraq’s Security Media Cell reported. News of the killing brought protesters into the street, angry that yet another activist has been shot dead.
Wazni was a member of a group coordinating protests in Karbala governorate. In CCTV footage of the incident, gunmen on a motorcycle are seen shooting Wazni in his car in front of his house in the al-Haddad neighborhood of central Karbala.
Provincial police have been mobilized to search for the "terrorist elements" who carried out the assassination, the Security Media Cell stated. Security forces were deployed into the streets of Karbala to “pursue the perpetrators,” said Governor Nsaif Jassim al-Khattabi.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, in a meeting with his cabinet on Sunday, said the killers of Wazni are "deeply involved in crime" and will not go unpunished.
Kadhimi said the killers are attempting to “create chaos” by targeting unarmed activists, “but the law will hold them accountable, just as others have fallen into the grip of justice.”
Britain’s ambassador called on the government to take “urgent” steps to end the “impunity” that is allowing the perpetrators to keep killing.
“I strongly condemn the killing of activist Ihab al-Wazni. Impunity for the murder of activists since October 2019 has only led to more killings. There is an urgent need to take concrete measures to hold perpetrators accountable and protect Iraqi citizens as they prepare for elections in October,” tweeted Ambassador Stephen Hickey.
Protests erupted in Karbala on Sunday morning after news of Wazni’s murder broke. Demonstrators blocked the main roads and threatened to escalate their actions. Activists said security forces in Karbala have ordered a delay to Wazni’s funeral because of the public anger.
“The commander of Karbala operations prohibited holding a funeral of Wazni until 72 hours after his death, in a move to break the popular demonstrations in Karbala,” tweeted activist Mahmoud al-Najjar.
Iranian-backed militias are accused of being behind the murder. "The continuation of the series of assassinations of activists, the last of which was the assassination of the activist Ihab al-Wazni, is a dangerous indication of Iraq's transformation into a forest ruled by militias," journalist Azal al-Sayyab wrote on Twitter.
Since the start of the protest movement in October 2019, dozens of activists have been assassinated, and some have been kidnapped and tortured. The killers act with impunity as investigations have yielded little result.
Some activists and journalists have called for a campaign to boycott October parliamentary elections, saying they will be corrupted and taken over by the militias.
“The simplest position of the October uprising, its new parties, and civil and national coalitions is the official announcement of boycotting the elections and an appeal to the international community to save what is left of Iraq,” tweeted former government spokesperson and journalist Ahmed Mulla Talal.
Updated at 3:33 pm