Iraq

01 September 2022; MEMO: Clashes among rival Shia Muslim militants in the Iraqi city of Basra have killed at least four people, security officials said on Thursday, as violence from a worsening political crisis hit the south of the country, Reuters reports.

The unrest began with two days of intense street fighting in Baghdad earlier in the week, the worst the Iraqi capital has seen for years.

BAGHDAD, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Clashes among rival Shi'ite Muslim militants in the Iraqi city of Basra have killed at least four people, security officials said on Thursday, as violence from a worsening political crisis hit the south of the country.

The unrest began with two days of intense street fighting in Baghdad earlier in the week, the worst the Iraqi capital has seen for years.

The crisis amounts to a power struggle between the powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and mostly Iran-aligned Shi'ite parties and paramilitary groups.

31 August 2022; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi yesterday threatened to submit his resignation "if [protesters] want to continue to stir up chaos, conflict, discord, and strife" and confirmed that an investigation will take place to determine who opened fire on demonstrators and those who fired missiles at the Green Zone in central Baghdad.

30 August 2022; MEMO: Iraq's powerful cleric, Moqtada Al-Sadr, ordered his followers to end their protests in central Baghdad on Tuesday, easing a confrontation which led to the deadliest violence in the Iraqi capital in years, Reuters reports.

Apologising to Iraqis after 22 people were killed in clashes between an armed group loyal to him and rival Shia Muslim factions backed by Iran, Sadr condemned the fighting and gave his own followers one hour to disperse.

30 August 2022; MEMO: Iraq's influential Shia cleric and head of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada Al-Sadr, announced yesterday that he will stage a hunger strike in protest over the mounting violence in the capital Baghdad, after deadly clashes erupted between his followers, rival supporters and security forces.

30 August 2022; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi m, yesterday called on the leader of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada Al-Sadr to call on his supporters to withdraw from government institutions in the Green Zone, the Iraqi News Agency reported.

"The dangerous developments that took place on Monday when demonstrators stormed the Green Zone and entered government institutions, indicate the seriousness of the repercussions of the continuation and accumulation of political differences," Al- Kadhimi said.

Aug 29 (Reuters) - Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is said to have announced a hunger strike until the violence and use of weapons stops, Iraq's state news agency INA and state TV reported late on Monday.

There was no immediate confirmation from Sadr's office.

At least 10 Iraqis were killed on Monday after powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he would quit politics, prompting his loyalists to storm a palatial government complex in Baghdad and leading to clashes with rival Shi'ite groups. 

BAGHDAD (AP) — An influential Shiite cleric announced Monday he would resign from Iraqi politics, prompting hundreds of his angry followers to storm the government palace and sparking clashes with security forces in which at least five protesters were killed.

Protesters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

BAGHDAD, Aug 28 (NNN-NINA) – Four Daesh militants were killed yesterday, in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said, in a statement.

The Daesh militants, from Himreen Lake in Diyala, were trying to destroy surveillance cameras, which were installed by the security forces to monitor their movement along their routes in the mountainous Himreen area, according to the statement.

The security forces tracked down the militants and clashed with them, leaving four militants killed and two others wounded, it added.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi warned Saturday that the political crisis in the country is threatening security achievements made in past years.

Al-Kadhimi’s warning is a clear indication of the dangers of one of Iraq’s worst political crises since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It is the result of disagreements between followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and rival Iran-backed groups since last year’s parliamentary elections.