BAGHDAD, May 26 (NNN-NINA) – A demonstrator was killed yesterday, during a protest in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, against the impunity for those who launched deadly attacks on anti-government protesters and activists in the past months.
An Interior Ministry source said, thousands of protesters gathered on three main squares in Baghdad, including the al-Tahrir Square, in downtown Baghdad.
Many protesters raised Iraqi flags and pictures of protesters, who were killed previously, in anti-corruption demonstrations held since Oct 2019.
Iraqi security forces arrested four people, who tried to infiltrate the demonstration, near the al-Tahrir Square, according to a statement issued by the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC).
The arrested confessed that they tried to penetrate the front lines of the demonstration, in a bid to cause chaos, the JOC said.
Ali al-Baiyati, member of the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights, said, one protester was killed and some others were wounded, in a clash that erupted when the Iraqi security forces tried to reopen the roads blocked by the demonstrators.
Later yesterday, a JOC statement said that Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, ordered an investigation into the incident.
Iraqi President, Barham Salih, said in a tweet that, “the use of bullets in demonstrations should not pass without investigation and accountability,” adding that, the protection of security and public properties is necessary.– NNN-NINA
