The Iraqi Shiite leader, Moqtada Sadr, whose supporters were fighting the army supported by men from Hashd Al-Chaabi (“popular mobilization units”), former pro-Iran paramilitaries integrated into the regular forces in Baghdad, gave, Tuesday, August 30, “sixty minutes” to his fighters to withdraw from the “green zone”, failing which he threatened to “disavow”.
“I apologize to the Iraqi people, the only ones affected by the events”added Moqtada Sadr, during a press conference in his stronghold of Najaf (central Iraq), while several rockets were fired earlier in the day on the “green zone” of Baghdad and that the fighting between the supporters of the Shiite leader and the army resumed with renewed vigour. This escalation has killed at least twenty-three people in the past twenty-four hours, according to a new report provided by a medical source, and 380 people injured.
After Moqtada Sadr’s appeal to his supporters, the army lifted the curfew in place since the day before, raising hopes that the violence in the streets would stop.
Minutes later after the press conference, some were seen abandoning their positions on live television.
Violence erupted Monday in Baghdad after Shiite Imam Moqtada al-Sadr’s decision to leave Iraqi political life, which has been blocked since the legislative elections last October. Sadrist youths stormed the government headquarters located in the “Green Zone”, a secure neighborhood housing government buildings and embassies, and took to the streets where they clashed with members of pro-Iranian factions.
Conflict between Shia organizations
The capital was shaken during the night by heavy fire and the explosion of rockets, and on Tuesday, the fire of automatic weapons and rocket launchers echoed throughout Baghdad from the “green zone”. The chaos spread to other Iraqi regions: in the province of Dhi Qar, Sadrists invaded the seat of the governorate and entered other official buildings in Nasiriyah. The seat of the province of Babylon, in the city of Hilla, was also occupied by supporters of Moqtada Al-Sadr.
The political crisis in Iraq has been going on since the legislative elections of October 2021. The Shiite political forces, in particular that of Moqtada Al-Sadr, have been unable to agree on a new prime minister and a new government.
In Washington, the White House judged the situation “disturbing” and called for calm and dialogue. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on all parties to “take immediate action to defuse the situation”. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called, late Monday evening, the parties “to the greatest restraint”. France “calls them to responsibility and to immediately stop the deadly clashes”the ministry said in a statement.