Baghdad: The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, decided on Monday to go on a hunger strike in a move to protest the violence witnessed in the Green Zone in Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency reported.
Iraqi leader in the Sadrist movement Hassan Al-Adari said in a Facebook post, “His Eminence announces a hunger strike…until violence and the use of weapons stop.”
“Removing the corrupt does not give anyone, no matter what, an excuse to use violence from all sides,” he added.
This comes in light of clashes with light and medium weapons inside the Green Zone in Baghdad, and the continuation of protests by al-Sadr supporters despite the announcement of a curfew.
The protests and clashes that erupted on Monday, killed 15 people and injured 350 others, AFP reported.
The capital, Baghdad, witnessed violence after the Shiite leader announced his final retirement from political work.
In refusal to this announcement, demonstrators from supporters of the current stormed the government palace in the Green Zone, then the security forces fired heavily and removed them from the vicinity of the palace.
As per media reports, an exchange of fire between supporters of the Sadrist movement and their opponents in the pro-Iranian “coordinating framework” forces alliance.
Subsequently, the Joint Operations Command announced, in a statement, the imposition of a comprehensive curfew in all governorates, starting from seven in the evening, Monday, until further notice. The governorates of Salah al-Din, Wasit and Maysan also announced the suspension of official working hours on Tuesday.
For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi directed the opening of an urgent investigation into the events in the Green Zone, stressing the prevention of the use of live bullets against demonstrators from any party.
The media office of the Prime Minister said in a statement, “The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, directed that the use of bullets and shooting at demonstrators by any security, military or armed party is strictly prohibited.”
Al-Kazemi stressed – according to the statement – “the commitment of ministries, authorities, and security and military agencies to work in accordance with the contexts, powers and controls granted to them.”
“Our security forces are responsible for protecting the demonstrators, and any violation of security instructions in this regard will be subject to legal accountability,” he said, directing “to open an urgent investigation into the events in the Green Zone, the sources of the shooting, and identifying the negligent people and holding them accountable according to the law.”
The Iraqi Prime Minister called on citizens to “abide by the security instructions and the curfew decision.”
Iraq is witnessing a political crisis that has intensified since July 30, 2022, after the followers of the Sadrist movement began a sit-in, which is still ongoing, inside the Green Zone, rejecting the nomination of the Coordinating Framework Alliance, Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani for the position of prime minister, and to demand the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the holding of early elections.
