A
day after Iraqi protesters in the holy city of Najaf burned the Iranian
consulate to the ground, Iraqi security forces came out in force using
increasingly violent tactics that included shooting live ammunition into
crowds of protest
Many casualties
At least 28 were killed. A recent article reports: At
least 24 people died when troops opened fire on demonstrators who
blocked a bridge in the southern city of Nassiriya before dawn on
Thursday. Medical sources said dozens of others were wounded.Four others
were killed in the capital Baghdad, where security forces opened fire
with live ammunition and rubber bullets against protesters near a bridge
over the Tigris river."
Iraqi government resorting to more force to remain in power
The Iraqi government has constantly ordered security forces to be more
aggressive against protesters. The government appears to believe that
only sheer force will keep them in power. However the protests have been
ongoing for some time with deaths leading not to less but more
protests.
The attack on the Iranian consulate
A recent article
reports: "In Najaf, a city of ancient pilgrimage shrines that serves
as seat of Iraq's powerful Shi'ite clergy, the Iranian consulate was
reduced to a charred ruin after it was stormed overnight. Protesters
accused the Iraqi authorities of turning against their own people to
defend Iran. "All the riot police in Najaf and the security forces
started shooting at us as if we were burning Iraq as a whole," a
protester who witnessed the burning of the consulate told Reuters,
asking that he not be identified. Another protester, Ali, described the
attack on the consulate as "a brave act and a reaction from the Iraqi
people. We don't want the Iranians." But he predicted more violence:
"There will be revenge from Iran, I'm sure. They're still here and the
security forces are going to keep shooting at us.""
Protesters complaints
A common complaint of protesters is that the Iraqi government is too
influenced by foreign governments. Iran has been a strong supporter of
the existing government even though some prominent Shiite clerics such
as Al-Sistani and al-Sadr have supported the demands of the protesters.
Anti-Iran sentiments no doubt led to the burning of the Iranian
consulate.
The protests began back in early October
Wikipedia describes the protests: The 2019 Iraqi protests, also
nicknamed the Tishreen Revolution[9] and 2019 Iraqi Intifada, are an
ongoing series of protests that consisted of demonstrations, marches,
sit-ins and civil disobedience. They started on 1 October 2019, a date
which was set by civil activists on social media, spreading over the
central and southern provinces of Iraq, to protest 16 years of
corruption, unemployment and inefficient public services, before they
escalated into calls to overthrow the administration and to stop Iranian
intervention in Iraq. The Iraqi government has been accused of using
bullets, snipers, hot water and tear gas against protesters.[10] The
protests stopped on 8 October and resumed on 24 October. "
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