Iraq unrest hits Baghdad's volatile Sadr City as death toll climbs to 110
October 07, 2019
BAGHDAD: At least 15 people were killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and protesters overnight in Baghdad’s Sadr City district as violence from a week-long nationwide uprising swept through the vast, poor swathe of the capital for the first time.
At least 110 people have been killed across Iraq in the worst wave of violence since the defeat of Daesh nearly two years ago, with protesters demanding the removal of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and a government they accuse of corruption.
The arrival of the violence in Sadr City on Sunday night poses a new security challenge for the authorities. Unrest is historically difficult to put down in the volatile district, where about a third of Baghdad’s eight million people live in narrow alleys, many with little access to electricity, water, and jobs.
The military said early Monday it was withdrawing from Sadr city and handing over to police in an apparent effort to deescalate tension there.
A Sadr City resident reached by phone told Reuters later on Monday that the streets were again calm after a night of riots. Local militiapeople were coming to inspect damage and police were deployed around the district’s neighborhoods.
The protests began spontaneously last week in Baghdad and across southern cities, without public support from any major political faction in Iraq.
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They have since escalated and grown more violent, spreading from cities in the south to other areas, where parties holding political power say their communities have been neglected for decades.
The unrest poses an unprecedented challenge for Abdul-Mahdi, who took office last year.
Reform promises
Abdul-Mahdi has responded with proposals of incremental reforms but these have failed to appease the protesters, who say the security forces are using snipers and live ammunition to protect the political class from popular anger.
It is the biggest wave of violence in the country since an insurgency by Daesh was put down in the north in 2017 and the worst street unrest to hit the capital Baghdad in around a decade.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Abdul-Mahdi in a phone call that he trusted the Iraqi forces and supported the country's government in restoring security, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Abdul-Mahdi said life had returned to normal, according to the statement.
The government has offered to spend more money on subsidized housing for the poor, stipends for the unemployed and training programs, and loan initiatives for youth.
Iraqi authorities also said they would hold to account members of the security forces who “acted wrongly” in the crackdown on protests, state TV reported. The interior ministry denies government forces have shot directly at protesters.
The protesters demand the overhaul of what they say is an entire corrupt system and political class that has held the country back, despite unprecedented levels of security since the end of the war against Daesh.
Many protesters also accuse the parties in power of having close ties to Iran, which has called for calm in Iraq.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted on Monday: “#Iran and #Iraq are two nations whose hearts & souls are tied together... Enemies seek to sow discord but they’ve failed & their conspiracy won’t be effective.”
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