Gunman (16) killed and hung from traffic light

A 16-YEAR-OLD who shot and killed six people in Baghdad’s mass protests has been killed by an angry mob, with the teen’s corpse being strung up by the feet from a traffic light.

Videos online showed the body of the youth being beaten, dragged across the street and then its throat slit before being hoisted up the traffic light as a mob stood watching.

The bloodshed was the latest act of mysterious violence from unknown groups that is spreading fear throughout the anti-government protests which have engulfed Iraq for the past two months.

The teenager opened fire in Baghdad yesterday, killing two shop owners and four anti-government protesters, said security officials.

The violence was condemned by the wider protest movement, which said in a statement the perpetrators were not part of their peaceful demonstrations.

Abductions of protesters and the assassinations of highprofile activists are rising.

Many protesters blame the acts of violence on Iranianbacked militias, seeing it as a strategy designed to stir fear and quell the peaceful movement.

Iranian-armed militias have been warned about targeting joint US-Iraq military facilities.

A senior US official said on Wednesday the Iran-backed groups were heading towards a red line for the coalition, which would respond with such force “no one would like the outcome”.

Hours later, two rockets exploded near the military section of Baghdad airport.