Death toll in Iraq attack rises to 23
A WEEKEND IN PROTESTS Anti-government unrest continues in nations across the world including in Chile, Hong Kong and France
BAGHDAD: The death toll in an attack by armed men at Baghdad’s main protest site on Friday night rose to 23 on Saturday, police and medical sources said, the deadliest incident to hit the capital in weeks.
More than 127 others were wounded by gunfire and stabbings targeting anti-government protesters near Tahrir Square, police and medical sources said. The death toll includes three members of the police.
Thousands of Iraqis have occupied the central square and three nearby bridges which lead to the city’s Green Zone for weeks, calling for the complete uprooting of the current political system.
Security sources said they could not identify the gunmen who attacked protesters.
The incident was followed by further intimidation early on Saturday morning, as unknown gunmen drove in a convoy down the main riverside street which leads to Tahrir Square, firing a volley of shots towards it.
The heavily armed, masked gunmen roamed the street near the square and attempted to advance onto Tahrir Square but were eventually turned around at a checkpoint manned by Iraq’s security forces, witnesses said.
The incidents were the most violent flare-ups in the capital for weeks and came a week after Iraqi’s prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, said he would resign following two months of anti-government protests.
Friday’s deadly attack came hours after Washington imposed sanctions on three Iranianbacked Iraqi paramilitary leaders who it accused of directing the killing of Iraqi protesters.
An armed drone targeted the home of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Saturday, hours after his supporters deployed in Baghdad in response to the attack.
The deaths pushed the toll since early October to more than 440 dead and nearly 20, 000 wounded, according to an AFP toll compiled from medics, police and a national commission.
FRENCH STRIKES HIT WEEKEND TRAVEL
PARIS: Strikes disrupted weekend travel around France on Saturday as truckers blocked highways and most trains remained at a standstill because of worker anger at President Emmanuel Macron’s policies.
Meanwhile, yellow vest protesters held their weekly demonstrations over economic injustice in Paris and other cities, under the close watch of police.
The marchers appear to be emboldened by the biggest national protests in years on Thursday that kicked off a mass movement against the government’s plan to redesign the national retirement system.
As the strikes entered a third day Saturday, tourists and shoppers faced shuttered subway lines around Paris and nearempty train stations.
POLICE GREEN-LIGHT SUNDAY RALLY IN HK BEIJING/HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s new police commissioner Chris Tang said on Saturday his force would take a flexible approach to pro-democracy demonstrations as the city gears up for a rally on Sunday that is expected to draw a huge crowd.
Police have given a rare green light to the demonstration planned for Sunday by the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) group, which organised largely peaceful million-strong marches in the summer.
The march will gauge support for the pro-democracy movement following its overwhelming victory in local elections late last month. Police said they would intervene “immediately” if it turned violent.
CHILE UNREST ENTERS 50TH DAY
SANTIAGO: Protesters clashed with police as thousands took to the streets of Chile’s capital Friday for a demonstration that marked 50 days since the outbreak of the country’s worst civil unrest in decades.
As with every Friday since protests began on October 18, thousands gathered at Plaza Italia in the centre of Santiago to wave flags, sing and dance in a show of opposition President Sebastian Pinera’s conservative government. Some demonstrators armed with stones and Molotov cocktails clashed with police, who scattered them with tear gas and water cannon.