NASIRIYA: Four people were shot dead and dozens wounded in Iraq's south on Friday, medics said, in clashes between anti-government protesters and supporters of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.
The violence erupted as tens of thousands of Sadr supporters hit the streets of Baghdad and the southern city of Nasiriyah in a show of force as preparations ramp up for June parliamentary elections.
Their turnout overshadowed the rival youth-dominated movement that had erupted in October 2019 but had petered out in recent months due to geopolitical tensions and the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has called for early polls to take place in June 2021 - nearly a year ahead of schedule - to fulfil a key demand of last year's protest movement, which also included Sadrists.
On Friday, followers of the cleric attacked a tent camp of anti-government protesters in Nasiriyah's Habboubi Square, said Mohammad Al-Khayyat, a leader of the anti-government movement.
"Sadrists armed with guns and pistols came to try to clear our tents. We fear that more violence could take place," Khayyat told AFP.
Medical sources told AFP that the violence had left four people dead and wounded 51 others, nine of them by gunfire.
An AFP reporter saw the torched remnants of the anti-government camp in Habboubi, where chaos reigned.
"The security forces clearly failed to prevent armed gangs from storming Habboubi Square," wrote Asaad Al-Naseri, an ex-Sadrist based Nasiriyah.
In the evening, clashes continued with an AFP correspondent reporting that many of the demonstrators' tents had been set on fire.
Nasiriyah was a major hub for the anti-government protest movement that erupted in October 2019.
It was also the site of one of the bloodiest incidents of the uprising nearly one year ago on November 28, when more than three dozen died in protest-related violence.
The deaths sparked outrage across Iraq, including by the country's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and prompted the resignation of then prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi.
Kadhimi's plan to hold early elections is seen as an effort to reach out to protesters.
The polls will take place under a new electoral law agreed by parliament that will see district sizes reduced and votes for individual candidates replacing list-based ballots.
Most observers expect a delay of at least a few months while political parties prepare their campaigns, but experts say the new system is likely to benefit Sadr and his candidates.
Sadrists had already won big in the May 2018 vote with 54 of parliament's 329 seats, granting him the biggest single bloc.
In a tweet this week, Sadr said he expected major wins in the new elections and would push for the next prime minister to be a member of his movement for the first time.
He also called for a protest on Friday, prompting tens of thousands to turn out in Baghdad, and in other Iraqi cities including Al-Hillah and Basra in the south.
Despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, they gathered shoulder-to-shoulder for noon Muslim prayers in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, spilling out into the surrounding streets.
In a sermon read out by the cleric's representative, the firebrand leader called for a "Sadrist majority" in parliament.
Sadr is very rarely seen in public and did not attend the rally.
"This is a protest against the corrupt, the oppressors, who have driven Iraq to brink of bankruptcy, to the brink of the abyss," said Talal Al-Saadi, a cleric who was among those protesting on Friday.
Iraq is facing its most dire fiscal crisis in decades following a collapse in oil prices earlier this year and the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the government unable to pay public sector salaries on time.
On Friday, Sadr supporters carried Iraq's national tricolour and posters of the cleric, including some that evoked his past as a militia leader and showed him in camouflage.
Volunteers dressed in light blue - the movement's colour - sprayed the crowd with disinfectant.
"Obeying Sadr's call, we're making a stand that the whole world will see - we don't want criminals or corrupt people in Iraq," said protester Ahmad Rahim, with an Iraqi flag draped around his shoulders.
"We call the shots," he added.
Four dead as rival protesters clash in southern Iraq
https://arab.news/85g7y
Four dead as rival protesters clash in southern Iraq
- The violence erupted as tens of thousands of Sadr supporters hit the streets of Baghdad and Nasiriyah
- Their turnout overshadowed the rival youth-dominated movement that had erupted in October 2019
Syrian intelligence says it foiled Daesh attempt to target Damascus shrine
DAMASCUS: Syria's Intelligence Directorate foiled an attempt by Daesh to target the Sayeda Zinab shrine in the capital Damascus, state news agency Sana reported on Saturday.
It said members of the cell were arrested before carrying out an attack.
Lebanon PM arrives in Damascus on first such visit since before Syria war
DAMASCUS: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus Saturday in the first such visit since before civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, an AFP journalist reported.
Mikati’s visit comes as the neighboring countries seek better relations after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime strongman Bashar Assad last month.
Israel strikes Yemen Houthis, warns it will ‘hunt’ leaders
- Israeli military said fighter jets struck military targets belonging to Houthi regime
- It said it also struck military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa
JERUSALEM: Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, including a power station and coastal ports, in response to missile and drone launches, and warned it would hunt down the group’s leaders.
“A short while ago... fighter jets struck military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
It said the strikes were carried out in retaliation for Houthi missile and drone launches into Israel.
The statement said the targets included “military infrastructure sites in the Hizaz power station, which serves as a central source of energy” for the Houthis.
It said it also struck military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement after the strikes, said the Houthis were being punished for their repeated attacks on his country.
“As we promised, the Houthis are paying, and they will continue to pay, a heavy price for their aggression against us,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would “hunt down the leaders of the Houthi terror organization.”
“The Hodeida port is paralyzed, and the Ras Issa port is on fire — there will be no immunity for anyone,” he said in a video statement.
The Houthis, who control Sanaa, have fired missiles and drones toward Israel since war broke out in Gaza in October 2023.
They describe the attacks as acts of solidarity with Gazans.
The Iran-backed rebels have also targeted ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, prompting retaliatory strikes by the United States and, on occasion, Britain.
Israel has also struck Houthi targets in Yemen, including in the capital.
Since the Gaza war began, the Houthis have launched about 40 surface-to-surface missiles toward Israel, most of which were intercepted, the Israeli army says.
The military has also reported the launch of about 320 drones, with more than 100 intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
West Bank family wants justice for children killed in Israel strike
- Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 825 Palestinians in the territory, according to Health Ministry figures
TAMMUN, Plestinian Territories: Batoul Bsharat was playing with her eight-year-old brother Reda in their village in the occupied West Bank. Moments later, an Israeli drone strike killed him and two of their cousins.
“It was the first time in our lives that we played without arguing. It meant so much to me,” the 10-year-old said as she sat on the concrete ledge outside the family home in the northern village of Tammun where they had been playing on Wednesday.
At her feet, a crater no wider than two fists marked where the missile hit.
The wall behind her is pockmarked with shrapnel impacts, and streaks of blood still stain the ledge.
Besides Reda, Hamza, 10, and Adam, 23, were also killed.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it had struck “a terrorist cell” in Tammun but later promised an investigation into the civilian deaths.
Batoul puts on a brave face but is heartbroken at the loss of her younger brother.
“Just before he was martyred, he started kissing and hugging me,” she said.
“I miss my brother so much. He was the best thing in the world.”
Her cousin Obay, 16, brother of Adam, was the first to come out and find the bodies before Israeli soldiers came to take them away.
“I went outside and saw the three of them lying on the ground,” he said. “I tried to lift them, but the army came and didn’t allow us to get close.”
Obay said his elder brother had just returned from a pilgrimage to Makkah.
“Adam and I were like best friends. We had so many shared moments together. Now I can’t sleep,” he said, staring into the distance, bags under his eyes.
Obay said the soldiers made him lie on the ground while they searched the house and confiscated cellphones before leaving with the bodies on stretchers.
Later on Wednesday, the army returned the bodies, which were then laid to rest. On Thursday, Obay’s father, Khaireddin, and his brothers received condolences from neighbors.
Despite his pain, he said things could have been worse as the family home hosts many children.
“Usually, about six or seven kids are playing together, so if the missile had struck when they were all there, it could have been 10 children,” he said.
Khaireddin was at work at a quarry in the Jordan Valley when he heard the news. Adam had chosen to stay home and rest after his pilgrimage to Makkah.
He described his son as “an exceptional young man, respectful, well-mannered and upright,” who had “nothing to do with any resistance or armed groups.”
Khaireddin, like the rest of the Bsharat family, said he could not comprehend why his home had been targeted.
“We are a simple family, living ordinary lives. We have no affiliations with any sides or movements.”
Violence has soared in the West Bank since war broke out in Gaza with the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 825 Palestinians in the territory, according to Health Ministry figures.
As the Israeli army has stepped up its raids on West Bank cities and refugee camps, it has also intensified its use of air strikes, which were once a rarity.
A day before the Bsharat home was hit, a similar strike had struck Tammun.
Khaireddin regrets that the army made “no apology or acknowledgment of their mistake.”
“This is the current reality — there is no accountability. Who can we turn to for justice?“
Tajani says Syrian leader pledged to stop ‘illegal immigration’
- Tajani also met his new counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe
BEIRUT: Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday that he was ready to stem “illegal immigration” to Europe, the European diplomat said.
“Al-Sharaa says he is ready to block illegal immigration, (and) fight against drug traffickers,” Tajani said in the Lebanese capital, the second leg of his trip, adding these were “two crucial commitments for Italy.”
Tajani said he had called for a moratorium on EU sanctions on Syria for six months or one year.
However, Tajani added that “lifting sanctions is not a national decision. They are a European bloc decision.”
Tajani also met his new counterpart Asaad Al-Shaibani, after which the Syrian official said he would soon make his first official tour of Europe.
“I am pleased to announce my intention to head a high-level delegation on a foreign tour that includes a number of European countries,” he said. Al-Shaibani has already visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan since the start of the month. Tajani arrived after hosting talks with European counterparts and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Thursday, where Tajani said they are seeking a “stable and united Syria.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas earlier on Friday said the 27-nation bloc could begin lifting sanctions if Syria’s new rulers took steps to form an inclusive government that protects minorities.
