Baghdad, Nov 5 (AFP/APP):Hundreds of supporters of pro-Iran groups clashed with security forces in Iraq’s capital on Friday, leaving more than 100 people injured as they vented their fury over last month’s election result, medical and security sources said.
“There were 125 people injured, 27 of them civilians and the rest from the security forces,” the health ministry said.
The political arm of the pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network saw its share of parliamentary seats decline substantially in the election, which the group’s supporters have denounced as “fraud”.
Demonstrators from groups loyal to the Hashed threw projectiles and “blocked… access to the Green Zone” on three sides, before they were pushed back by police who fired in the air, a security source said, requesting anonymity.
The health ministry said nobody was killed in the clashes but some pro-Iran channels on messaging app Telegram alleged police fired live rounds at protesters.
“Two demonstrators were killed,” a leader of the Hezbollah Brigades, one of Hashed’s most powerful factions, told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi “ordered a full inquiry into Friday’s events,” his office said.