Iraq crackdown kills nearly 40 after Iran mission torched

Agencies
November 29, 2019

Nasiriyah, Nov 29: Iraq crackdown kills nearly 40 after Iran mission torched Nasiriyah (Iraq), Nov 29 (AFP) Iraq's protest-hit cities saw one of their bloodiest days yet as a government crackdown killed nearly 40 demonstrators following the dramatic torching of an Iranian consulate.

The country's capital and south have been rocked by the worst street unrest since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, with a protest movement venting fury at the government and its backers in neighbouring Iran.

Thursday's violence brought the total death toll since early October to more than 390, with more than 15,000 wounded, according to an AFP tally.

The highest toll was in the flashpoint southern city of Nasiriyah, where 25 people were killed when security forces used "excessive force" to break up rallies, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

Another two protesters were killed in Baghdad and ten died in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf, where demonstrators had torched the Iranian consulate late on Wednesday.

Crowds outraged at Tehran's political influence in Iraq had stormed and burned down the mission, yelling "Victory to Iraq!" and "Iran out!" In response, Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi early on Thursday ordered military chiefs to deploy in several restive provinces to "impose security and restore order", the army said.

But by the afternoon, following the bloody crackdown in the restive southern city of Nasiriyah, the premier had already sacked one commander, General Jamil Shummary.

The governor of Dhi Qar province, of which Nasiriyah is the capital, resigned later on that evening. More than 200 people were also wounded as security forces cleared sit-ins with live fire, medics and security sources said.

Medics in Nasiriyah said they had to carry out more than 80 life-saving surgeries in hospitals crowded with casualties.

Dhi Qar announced three days of mourning as thousands attended funeral processions there in defiance of a curfew announced earlier in the day.

"We're staying until the regime falls and our demand are met!" they chanted.

Demonstrators, dispersed by security forces, regrouped at Nasiriyah's main police station, setting it on fire. They then surrounded its main military headquarters as armed members of the area's powerful tribes deployed along main highways to block military reinforcements trying to reach the city.

"The scenes from Nasiriyah this morning more closely resemble a war zone than city streets and bridges," said Lynn Maalouf of rights group Amnesty International. "This bloodbath must stop now." The new phase of unrest in southern Iraq was unleashed after protesters had late on Wednesday stormed the Iranian consulate in Najaf, apparently evacuated by its staff.

An AFP correspondent saw them setting tyres ablaze around the site, sending flames and thick smoke into the night sky. Demonstrators have blamed powerful eastern neighbour Iran for propping up the Baghdad government which they are seeking to topple.

Tehran has demanded Iraq take decisive action against the protesters, with foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi condemning the consulate attack.

"Iran has officially communicated its disgust to the Iraq ambassador in Tehran," he told Iran's state news agency IRNA.

Later Thursday, ten protesters were shot dead close to the burnt consulate, medics said.

AFP's correspondent said clashes went on into the night between protesters and armed men in civilian clothes.

Many expected Iraq's highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who lives in Najaf, to address the violence in his weekly sermon on Friday. He has backed the protests and repeatedly called for restraint in dealing with them.

Iran's consulate in Iraq's other holy city of Karbala was targeted earlier this month, with security forces shooting four demonstrators dead. The two countries have close but complex ties and Tehran holds significant sway among Iraqi political and military leaders.

Top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani has held several meetings in Baghdad and Najaf to convince political factions to close ranks around Abdel Mahdi.

Those meetings, sources told AFP, brought firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr back into the fold after he called on Abdel Mahdi to resign.

But on Thursday, Sadr reverted course, saying it would "be the beginning of the end for Iraq" if the government did not step down.

Sit-ins, road closures and street marches have shuttered public offices and schools for weeks in many southern cities.

On Thursday, clashes flared near Karbala's provincial headquarters between some 200 protesters and riot police using tear gas and flash bangs.

Protesters kept up sit-ins in Kut, Amara and Hilla, all south of the capital, despite an increased security presence.

In the oil-rich port city of Basra, most government offices reopened but schools remained closed as security forces deployed in the streets.

Iraq is OPEC's second-largest crude producer and the oil exported through Basra's offshore terminals makes up more than 90 percent of the government's budget.

Protesters have accused the ruling elite of embezzling state funds, desperately needed to restore failing public services and fix schools.

Corruption is rampant in Iraq, ranked the world's 12th most graft-ridden country by Transparency International. The World Bank says one in five Iraqis lives in poverty and youth unemployment stands at 25 percent.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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The leader of Yemen’s Houthis has said that the Yemeni armed forces will continue their retaliatory operations against Israeli-affiliated commercial vessels, preventing the passage of the ships even through the Indian Ocean and through the Cape of Good Hope.  

About 34 Houthi fighters have been killed since the Yemeni armed forces began to attack shipping lanes in solidarity with the people of Palestine under attack in Gaza by Israel, Ansarullah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

Yemeni forces have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against Israeli and Israel-bound ships since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's war on Gaza.

Al-Houthi said 73 ships have been targeted in Yemeni operations in support of Gaza so far, adding rarely does any ship associated with the Israeli enemy pass through Bab al-Mandab.

“This week, support operations included 12 operations targeting ships and barges, executed with a total of 58 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden,” he said.

“Our operations this time reached unprecedented ranges, with 3 operations reaching the Indian Ocean, by the grace of Allah,” he added. “The total number of targeted ships and barges reached 73.”

Al-Houthi said that the operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza persist.

The United States and Britain began striking Yemen in January in order to dissuade the country from targeting Israeli ships which carry arms and logistics for the onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Al-Houthi said the Americans and the British have received “painful blows” from the Yemeni armed forces in retaliation.

The American-British “aggression will not affect the escalating course of our operations in terms of range, momentum, precision, and strength,” said Al-Houthi.  

“What can stop the Yemeni military’s maritime operations is only the cessation of aggression and siege on Gaza,” he noted.

The American stubbornness and escalation of aggression result in only one outcome: the expansion of the conflict, the widening of the circle of war and events, and the tension of the situation at the regional level in general, he stated.

He went on to say that the Yemeni armed forces will continue and effectively expand the range of the operations to reach areas and locations that the enemy never expected.

Al-Houthi said what insures the navigation security in the Red Sea is for any country not to participate in the Israeli aggression against Gaza.

He said the Americans and those who drag the United States towards the militarization of the Red Sea are the ones who undermine international navigation.

“By the grace of Allah and His assistance, we aim to prevent the passage of ships associated with the Israeli enemy even through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope,” he stated.

“For this important, advanced, and significant step, we have begun to implement our operations related to it through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope,” he said.

There is absolutely no choice for the American and the British but to stop the aggression on Gaza and stop starving the people in Gaza, he declared.

“Our human conscience, our religion, our morals, our dignity, our pride, our belonging to Islam, prohibit us from watching the oppression of Palestine or remaining silent about it,” said Houthi.

He added that the Yemeni military is in continuous development of capabilities and in constant expansion of the stance in its range, effectiveness, and impact.

“The American's actions this week, involving aerial bombings and naval shelling, amounted to 32 bombing raids and strikes, which, as usual, were unsuccessful,” he revealed.

“The impact of the American raids and bombings is negligible regarding our missile and drone capabilities and in terms of continuing operations effectively to counter it, and in preventing ships associated with the Israeli enemy,” he stated.

He concluded by saying that the Yemeni armed forces are continuously escalating, and increasing capabilities to attack enemy ships. “No matter what the Americans do, they will not be able to stop us from supporting the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they won’t stop retaliatory strikes.

The maritime attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war following Operation al-Aqsa Storm by Gaza-based resistance movements on October 7, 2023, more than 31,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, have lost their lives.

The Israeli military offensive has left a trail of destruction in Gaza, leaving hospitals in ruins and displacing around half of its 2.4 million residents.

Israel has additionally enforced a comprehensive blockade on the coastal sliver, severing the supply of fuel, electricity, sustenance and water to the population residing there.

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News Network
March 26,2024

gazastrike.jpg

There is no let-up in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire.”

Israel carried out air raids and artillery strikes on several parts of Gaza on Tuesday, hitting residential buildings and gatherings of displaced people, “killing and wounding hundreds of people”, the Palestinian Information Center said.

Among the victims are 15 people, including four women and children, who were killed in an attack on a house in the neighborhood of Mosbeh, north of Rafah.

Media reports also said that fighting on the ground continued unabated.

That’s while the UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution for an “immediate ceasefire” for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The resolution was put forward by the 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. The US abstained and the 14 other council members all voted in favor of it.

After the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on social media platform X that failing to implement the resolution “would be unforgivable.”

Palestinian resistance movements have welcomed the resolution, but Israel’s minister for military affairs Yoav Gallant said Israel will not stop its attacks in Gaza. 

“We will operate against Hamas everywhere – including in places where we have not yet been,” Gallant said.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, also said in a post on X that the attacks will continue until all the captives taken by Hamas during its October 7 blitz are released.

Israel unleashed its war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 32,300 Palestinians and injured over 74,000 others.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza.

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