BAGHDAD: Clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters killed at least 15 people in an eastern Baghdad neighbourhood overnight, police and medics said on Monday, raising the toll from nearly a week of violence to at least 110 people.
The military said early on Monday it was withdrawing from Sadr city, a sprawling residential district, and handing over to police in an apparent effort to de-escalate tension.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in a phone call that he trusted the Iraqi forces and supported the Iraqi government in restoring security, without elaborating, a statement from the premier’s office said.
Abdul Mahdi said life had returned to normal, according to the statement.
Protests broke out in Baghdad on Tuesday as public anger swelled over jobs, services and endemic corruption among Iraq’s leaders and politicians. The unrest spread to several mostly Shi’ite Muslim southern cities.
Police used live ammunition from the first day and clashes have now killed at least 110 people, say police and medics. The interior ministry gave a casualty toll of 104 killed and more than 6,000 wounded. It said eight of the dead were security forces.
It is the bloodiest unrest and biggest challenge to Iraq’s security since the declared defeat of Islamic State in 2017 and has shaken Abdul Mahdi’s year-old government.
The government has agreed to increase subsidized housing for the poor, stipends for the unemployed and training programmes and loan initiatives for youth.
Iraqi authorities also said they would hold to account members of the security forces who “acted wrongly” in a harsh crackdown on dissent, state TV reported on Monday. The interior ministry denies government forces have shot directly at protesters.
The protesters demand the overhaul of what they say is an entire corrupt system and political class that has held the country back, despite unprecedented levels of security since the end of the war against IS.
Khamenei says ‘enemies seek to sow discord’ between Iran and Iraq
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “enemies” were trying to drive a wedge between Tehran and Baghdad in a tweet on Monday following deadly unrest in neighbouring Iraq.
“Iran and Iraq are two nations whose hearts & souls are tied together… Enemies seek to sow discord but they’ve failed & their conspiracy won’t be effective,” Khamenei said on Twitter.
State news agency IRNA said the supreme leader was reacting to recent violence in Iraq.
More than 100 people have been killed in Iraq since clashes erupted last week between protesters and security forces, the majority of them demonstrators struck by bullets.
The Iraqi authorities have accused “saboteurs” and unidentified snipers of targeting the protesters.
Iran has urged its citizens planning to take part in a major pilgrimage in Iraq to delay their travel into the country over the violence.
Tehran has close but complicated ties with Baghdad, with significant influence among its political groups.
The two countries fought a bloody war from 1980 to 1988 and Iran’s influence in the country grew after the US-led invasion of Iraq toppled veteran dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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Previously on TNT: Nine dead as thousands protest across Iraq
