Fighting between supporters of rival forces resumed on Tuesday in Baghdad, where 23 supporters of Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr have been shot dead since Monday, according to a new report provided by a medical source.
At least 380 people were injured in the violence in the Green Zone, an ultra-secure perimeter, according to this source.
After a calm night, the fighting between supporters of Moqtada Sadr, on the one hand, and the army as well as men from Hashd al-Chaabi, former pro-Iranian paramilitaries integrated into the regular forces, on the other, have picked up again Tuesday morning.
The firing of automatic weapons and RPG rockets echoed throughout Baghdad from the Green Zone, AFP noted.
The Iraqi government announced that the curfew in force since Monday evening throughout Iraq was maintained on Tuesday. Schools, administrations and shops are closed.
A few rare cars venture into the streets of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital where the army and the police ensure that the curfew is respected.
The Green Zone, where embassies and government institutions are located, descended into chaos on Monday after the highly influential Moqtada Sadr announced his “permanent retirement” from politics.
Several thousand of his supporters then invaded the Palace of the Republic, where the Council of Ministers sits, in the Green Zone. The security forces dispersed them with tear gas and truncheons.
In the afternoon, the first shots were heard before the situation escalated and fighting with heavy weapons pitted Moqtada Sadr’s supporters and the army as well as the Hachd al-Shaabi.
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 Sadr, cannot agree on a new Prime Minister and a new government.