Four Killed, 90 Injured in Baghdad Green Zone Riots: Hospitals


Four Killed, 90 Injured in Baghdad Green Zone Riots: Hospitals

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least four people were killed and 90 injured among anti-corruption protesters who stormed Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone Friday, hospital sources said Saturday.

Iraqi security forces used live and rubber bullets as well as tear gas to dislodge the protesters from the district that houses government buildings, parliament and embassies.

The toll, compiled from four hospitals where casualties were taken as well as Baghdad's central morgue, accounts for bullet wounds only, not cases of suffocation caused by tear gas.

The disturbance was the second breach of the Green Zone in less than a month, Reuters reported. 

Protesters included supporters of powerful  cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the government's failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and improve security against bombings by Daesh (ISIL) militants.

The government briefly imposed a curfew on Baghdad Friday and authorities later said that order had returned after what they called rioting at the Green Zone.

Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, in a late-night speech, condemned the Green Zone breach and warned against chaos and strife: "The law must take its course with every transgressor."

Most Visited in Other Media
Top Other Media stories
Top Stories