The pioneers of social networking sites shared video clips documenting the moment of violent clashes between several armed factions in the city of Basra, southern Iraq, which resulted in deaths and injuries.
And Iraqi media said that clashes erupted between members of Saraya al-Salam and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, a splinter of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.
The governor of Basra directed the Iraqi security forces to take to the street and prevent armed manifestations.
The violence in Iraq followed a series of clashes that took place in different areas, most notably the Green Zone in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, following Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from political life.
The government formation faltered
This comes in the wake of the failure of political groups in Iraq to form a new government following the October elections last year, in which al-Sadr’s bloc won the majority of votes.
Most of the clashes took place in the Green Zone, an area subject to strict security, due to the concentration of government buildings and international organizations in the center of Baghdad.
With the suspension of parliamentary sessions and the imposition of a temporary curfew in all parts of the country due to the violence, Iran closed its borders with Iraq, and Kuwait called on its citizens to leave the country amid the escalation.
curfew
Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iraq’s prime minister, announced a nationwide curfew in the wake of the unrest, suspended cabinet meetings and appealed to al-Sadr to intervene and stop the fighting.
In response, al-Sadr ordered his supporters to withdraw from parliament, and declared a hunger strike to protest the use of weapons by all parties, he said. He also apologized to the Iraqi people for the violence, and ordered his supporters to stop their protests.
