Iraqi protestors take part in anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad, October 25, 2019. Photo: AFP
11:44 pm
Protesters sing in Baghdad's Tahrir Square after a day of violent protests left 42 dead and more than 2,000 wounded
#IraqProtests: Vibrant scenes in Tahrir Square as youth sing in defiance against the Iraqi government, #Baghdad. pic.twitter.com/0sUxOZSWbg
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) October 25, 2019
Video submitted to Rudaw
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11:29 pm
11 protesters die torching Badr office in Diwaniyah: report
Eleven protesters were killed in Diwaniyah, the capital of al-Qadisiya province, when setting fire to the headquarters of the powerful Badr Organization, AFP reported citing a security source.
Protesters have torched the offices of multiple political parties and armed groups in southern Iraq on Friday as part of deadly anti-government protests.
In Maysan, where the provincial head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq was killed by unknown gunmen in hospital after being injured during clashes with protesters, there are unconfirmed reports that masked gunmen were firing into the crowd from the rooftop of the militia’s office.
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10:34 pm
30 killed across southern Iraq, Asaib Ahl al-Haq official assassinated: report
The death toll has risen to 30 killed across five provinces in southern Iraq, according to Iraq’s Human Rights Commission. Eight were killed in Baghdad, nine in Maysan, nine in Dhi Qar, three in Basra, and one in Muthana. In addition, 2,312 people have been injured.
The head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq in Maysan province has also been killed, assassinated by unknown gunmen, the spokesperson for the Sadiqun bloc in the parliament, the political wing of the militia group, told Rudaw.
Wisam Alyawi, head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq in Mayssan, and his brother Isam were injured in a clash with demonstrators. Protesters had stormed the headquarters of the militia group which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Alyawi and his brother were taken to hospital where they were killed, spokesperson Naem Aboodi told Rudaw. “A number of masked, armed people entered the hospital and shot at the head of the office and his brother, and killed them,” he said.
The incident has not been confirmed by local security officials.
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9:02 pm
21 killed and 1779 injured, curfews imposed
Twenty-one protesters have been killed in four provinces in southern Iraqi, reported the country’s Human Rights Commission.
"The number of martyrs among protesters has increased to 21 in clashes that took place between security forces, guards of the offices of political parties, and protesters,” reads the Commission’s most recent update.
Eight were killed in Baghdad, six in Maysan, six in Dhi Qar, and one in Muthana.
In addition, 1,779 have been injured. "Most of the injuries were due to gunshots, tear gas, and rubber bullets,” the Commission stated.
Protesters, outraged at government corruption and fed up with the entrenched politics, have also torched dozens of government buildings and offices of political parties. Twenty-seven separate buildings have been set aflame across Diwaniya, Maysan, Wasit, Dhi Qar, Basra, and Babylon, the Commission stated.
A member of the Commission who had been present at a protest was shot in Maysan and taken to hospital.
Curfews have been announced in five provinces: Wasit, Muthana, Dhi Qar, Basra, and Babylon, state media reported. Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has given provincial governors authority to announce full or partial curfews.
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7:28 pm
10 protesters shot dead in southern Iraq: AFP
At least 10 protesters have been shot dead in cities south of Baghdad, according to AFP which reports the death toll is now 14.
Five protesters were shot and killed in Amarah when they tried to break into the headquarters of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an armed militia of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
In Nasiriyah, another five protesters were shot dead and 18 were wounded.
Two protesters died from severe burns sustained when torching political party offices.
Two protesters were earlier reported killed in Baghdad, hit in the head by tear gas canisters.
Protesters attempted to enter the Green Zone, the region of Baghdad that houses government offices and foreign embassies, but they were pushed back by security forces.
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5:12 pm
Death toll rises, nearly 1,000 people injured: reports
A second protester has been killed in Baghdad and nearly 1,000 people have been injured, according to Iraq’s Human Rights Commission. In Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar province, four protesters were shot dead, AFP reported, citing medics and police.
In Baghdad, "Two demonstrators died, with preliminary information indicating they were hit in the head or face by tear gas canisters," Ali Bayati, a member of the Commission, told AFP.
Bayati denied reports that live fire had been used to disperse protesters. Rudaw’s reporters and other journalists on the ground have reported police firing live shots into the air in Baghdad.
At least 966 have been injured – including 884 protesters and 84 members of the security forces, the Commission reported in a statement.
Protesters have also torched offices of political parties and government buildings in multiple southern provinces, according to the Commission statement. In Muthana, the offices of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Hikma, the Dawa party, al-Bashair Movement, Fadhila, and the Badr Organizations were set on fire. In Wasit province, the headquarters of the Dawa party was set alight. And in Dhi Qar province, protesters torched the governorate building.
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3.29 p.m.
Amnesty: respect right to protest
Human rights monitor Amnesty International has called on Iraqi authorities to respect the public’s right to protest as reports emerge of fatalities and injuries in Baghdad and other cities.
“Amnesty International has received reports of #Iraqi security forces firing tear gas and live ammunition in Baghdad and reports of deaths of protesters,” Amnesty’s press department said in a tweet on Friday afternoon.
“We renew our call to the authorities to uphold their promises to protect Iraqis’ right to freedom of expression and assembly.”
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2.56 p.m.
1 dead, 227 injured in protests: monitor
Iraq’s Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) says one protester has been killed and at least 227 injured in renewed protests as of early Friday afternoon.
IHCHR did not provide details on how the protester was killed. However, videos have emerged on social media of a man lying on the ground after being struck in the head with a teargas canister.
Of those injured, 224 are in Baghdad, while the remaining three were hurt in protests in Muthana governorate, IHCHR said.
The majority suffered injuries at the entrance to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where security forces used teargas, flash bangs, and hot water to disperse the crowd.
The commission also says two Iraqi reporters were injured – one from al-Sumeria TV and another al-Tagheer – and one German reporter from ZDF. Al-Sumeria TV confirmed its correspondent Hisham Waseem has been hospitalized. The other outlets are yet to comment.
The commission’s observers have also been injured by teargas, IHCHR said, complaining that health officials have obstructed their work by failing to provide figures on the number of people killed or injured.
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2:28 p.m
Sistani urges restraint
Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has urged protesters and security forces to show restraint after reports of at least one fatality in Friday’s renewed protests.
In a public sermon read by his representative Sheikh Abdulmahdi al-Karbalayi, Sistani said the unrest risks dragging the country into chaos and civil war.
“Amid these sensitive times in the history of dear Iraq, in which popular demonstrations in Baghdad and other provinces renew, we call on our beloved protesters and dears in the security forces to fully commit to the peacefulness of the protests and not let it get dragged into violence, riot, and destruction,” he said.
Iraqi protester dies after tear gas canister strikes him on the head, dozens injured, two killed since protests started this morning — #Baghdad. pic.twitter.com/zH07fntWyL
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) October 25, 2019
Sistani, whose words are extremely influential among Iraq’s Shiites, urged the protesters not to throw rocks or Molotov cocktails at security forces or to attack public and private property, as doing so will “deviate the protesters from achieving their legitimate demands”.
He also urged security forces to respect the constitutional right to peacefully protest, to avoid clashes with protesters, and to show “the maximum degree of self-control”.
This emphasis on peacefulness is not merely out of concern for the safety of protesters and security forces, Sistani said, but also from the “extreme keenness on the future of the country, which suffers from many complications, with fears of violence and counter-violence slipping into chaos and destruction”.
This could pave the way for more external powers using Iraqi territory to “settle scores”, throwing Iraq and its neighbours into a proxy war, he said.
“True reform and awaited reform in the administration of the country needs to be done through peaceful means, and that is possible if Iraqis get together and unite ranks in demanding specific demands in this regard,” added Sistani.
.jpeg "Anti-government protesters open the bridge leading to the Green Zone during a demonstration in central Baghdad, Iraq. October 25, 2019. Photo: Hadi Mizban / AP")
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12.17 p.m.
‘We want to topple the state’
Protesters gathered near Baghdad’s Tahrir Square say they are no longer interested in their original demands of tackling unemployment, corruption, and the lack of public services. They are now calling for the overthrow of the government.
In footage of Friday’s unrest, protesters can be heard chanting: “Parties out, out! Baghdad will remain free!”
“We, alongside the youth, are out not for jobs or anything. We want to topple the state. We want a homeland because these [in power] are useless,” one protester told Rudaw.
“We want a homeland. We want to live like other Arab states,” he added. “Today, God willing, it is either us, or them.”
Ambulances have been seen racing through Baghdad transporting the wounded to local hospitals.
“The demands of the people are clear. They want to change the corrupt political system of the past 16 years, and of before that as well,” said another protester.
The ruling parties have caused the spread of illiteracy and poverty and have divided Iraq's resources among themselves, the protester added. “We want a new Iraq, a country we believe in, we want reassurance, democracy, and freedom.”
In the run up to the resumption of protests on Friday morning, the Iraqi interior ministry and the prime minister said measures were being taken to protect the safety of protesters.
“The government continues its lies, promising to protect peaceful protesters, but there is repression,” the protester said.
A member of the security forces in Tahrir Square told Rudaw they are not against the protesters, blaming the fatal shootings on the armed militias of Iraq’s political parties.
“We are with them, not against them. It is the parties that are shooting them. It is impossible that security forces hurt the protesters,” the riot policeman said.
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11.10 a.m.
Tear gas, live ammunition
Iraqi police have used tear gas and fired live rounds into the air to disperse protesters gathering near the Green Zone in the capital Baghdad, where anti-government demonstrations resumed on Friday, according to Rudaw’s reporter at the scene.
Related: Iraq protests: ‘Even if they kill 200 more on Friday, we won’t go home this time’
Images are already emerging of wounded protesters being carried away and others being detained by security forces. There are also images of protesters pulling down concrete barriers and barbed wire fences protecting government buildings in the fortified Green Zone.
Protesters say at least one person has been killed. Rudaw has not be able to independently verify the claim.
Iraq saw nationwide anti-government protests in early October demanding action to tackle high youth unemployment, poverty, poor services, and corruption. Baghdad saw the largest protests with thousands of mostly young men taking to the streets.
They were violently suppressed by security forces and armed militia groups. At least 157 people were killed and 5,494 injured in the wave of unrest, according to a report published by the Human Rights Office of the United Nationals Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) on Tuesday.
Curfews were imposed on city centers and internet services suspended across the country’s south.
The protests receded after October 9, with demonstrators saying they were pausing their activities during the Shiite religious observance of Arbaeen. They pledged to return to the streets on Friday.
The government and international observers fear the unrest will again get out of control and have urged restraint on all sides.
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