Protesters on social media said a “massacre” occurred. Videos circulating on social media show crying children being carried to safety by uniformed Iraqi security forces as the sound of shooting can be heard. A child is heard crying “I want my father,” and another says “Father has been killed.”
In another widely-shared video, a protestor running as shots can be heard shouts, “The protesters are all dead. This is Karbala! Listen! These are all live rounds.”
According to a local business owner who witnessed the events, protesters had set up a “peaceful encampment” in the city’s al-Tarbrya (education) Square. “We were seeing in the nearby street they were cooperating with the security forces,” said the witness.
The violence started last night with the arrival of an unknown force. “Yesterday some forces entered and we don’t know who they were, whether they were the army or the police,” said the witness who described them as being in uniform. The armed group ran over protesters with their vehicles, clashed with the security forces, and chased protesters into alleys, the witness said.
“There was very extensive shooting last night,” the witness added.
The Karbala police on Tuesday morning issued a statement claiming the reports of deaths among the protesters are “devoid of truth.”
“Karbala police deny there being any martyr in yesterday evening’s protests and affirm that there was no martyr, neither in the ranks of security forces or protests,” the police stated. It asserted there was just one death in the city over night, a homicide.
“The Karbala police flatly deny the fabrication of news being shared on media outlets and the videos shared are not true,” the statement read.
Official reports are that the security forces had more injuries than the protesters. The Ministry of Defense reported that nearly twice as many security force members, 90, were injured as compared to civilians, 53.
The human rights commission announced figures that roughly echoed those of the governorate officials, stating that 142 security forces were injured and 50 protesters.
A group of medical and security officials gave a joint press conference in Karbala midday on Tuesday.
The city’s health officials said 122 people were injured. “The cases ranged from simple suffocation due to tear gas to bruises due to clashes and stampedes,” said Karbala Health Department director Sabah Nour Hadi al-Mousawi.
The majority of those – 100 – were among the security forces and 22 were civilians, according to Mousawi. Most of the cases have been discharged from the hospitals.
Karbala Governor Nasief al-Khittabi denied that live ammunition was used against the protesters. “We have banned taking on duty a magazine loaded with live rounds,” he said.
A senior security official denied the existence of any armed group in Karbala outside of the police and army. “There is no armed faction. There is no shooting. That is impossible, and I affirm that,” said Staff General Ali al-Hashimi, head of Central Euphrates Operations Command.
The commander of Karbala police General Ahmed Ali Zweiny accused protesters of having tear gas and “internationally prohibited bombs,” as well as being in possession of military uniforms.
Eye witness reports contradict the official position.
One man told Rudaw English that he saw two protesters shot dead at 10pm Monday night. “The authorities are lying when they say no one has been martyred. I’m confident that at least 35 people have been killed,” said the witness, who claimed members of the influential, Iran-backed Badr militia, wearing civilian clothes, were beating protesters with clubs.
“People are very angry in the city,” said the eye witness. It is now calm, but protesters have started to gather in the square again and the witness predicts “when the night falls, the situation will get worse.”
The tent camp set up by the protesters has been removed by the unknown armed group, according to an eye witness.
A source at a hospital in the city confirmed to Rudaw English that they treated two protesters who had been hit by live gunfire. The source said their hospital did not see any deaths.
Iraqi security expert Husham al-Hashimi tweeted that the United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) is investigating the events in Karbala because of the conflicting information. UNAMI spokesperson Samir Ghattas told Rudaw English that they are looking into all developments with respect to the protests.
“In horrific scenes from Karbala last night, Iraqi forces opened live fire on peaceful protesters and resorted to excessive and often lethal force to disperse them in a reckless and utterly unlawful manner,” said Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International.
“These scenes are all the more shocking as they come despite assurances from Iraqi authorities that there would be no repeat of the extreme violence used against demonstrators during protests earlier this month.”
Anti-government protests were reignited on Friday with demonstrators calling for a revolution. The parliament convened on Monday and took measures in an attempt to meet protesters demands, including voting to dissolve provincial and local council, slashing privileges of top government officials, and forming a committee to amend the constitution.
At least 157 people were killed in the first week of protests at the start of October and 74 more were killed in renewed protests, as of Monday evening.
Ali al-Bayati, a member of Iraq’s Independent Higher Human Rights Commission, on Monday sent a message to Iraqi President Barham Salah, claiming that a war is taking place in Karbala.
“To his Excellency the President, the guardian of the constitution and the people, you stated today that Iraq will not accept a war between America and Iran. Do you realize that there is a war on our Iraqi soil, not somewhere else, and between its children? It happened in Karbala,” said Bayati in a Facebook post.
He embedded a video appearing to depict masked men, wearing vests and helmets, beating up a man in an alley.
Iraqi football legend Younis Mahmoud urged the international community to intervene. “We call on the United Nations to intervene urgently to stop the bloodbath. The people of Iraq are being killed,” Mahmoud said in a Monday tweet.
Updated at 2:30 pm
