BAGHDAD (AFP) – Scuffles broke out between protesters and security forces injuring dozens as thousands gathered Saturday in Iraq’s capital to mark three years since nationwide demonstrations erupted in the country.
The latest protests in Baghdad come as Iraq has been mired in political paralysis since elections in October last year that have failed to bring in a new president, prime minister or government.
Thousands gathered on Saturday in Baghdad’s iconic Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest movement, an AFP correspondent said.
Many brandished portraits of the “martyrs” killed in the wave of rallies three years ago.
“Today, it is essential to confront power,” activist Ali al-Habib said.
“All the bridges and roads are blocked,” he added, condemning “infighting within the political class, which completely ignores the will of the people”.
The demonstrations seek to revive the unprecedented protests of October 2019 that condemned “the country’s decaying infrastructure.”
Those protests raged for months before winding down under the shadow of coronavirus restrictions and a harsh crackdown that saw at least 600 demonstrators killed and tens of thousands more wounded.
The protesters on Saturday gathered at al-Jumhuriya Bridge, where they attempted to overcome a series of barriers set up by security forces to block access to the fortified Green Zone that houses government buildings and diplomatic missions.
Protesters threw the iron barriers into the river, according to an interior ministry official who reported 18 minor injuries among riot police resulting from stones and glass bottles being thrown at them.
Police retaliated by throwing smoke grenades at the crowd to disperse them, the AFP correspondent said.
At least 28 protesters suffered from breathing difficulties as a result, according to an interior ministry official.
Rival factions in parliament have for months vied for power and the right to select a new prime minister and government.
The impasse pits cleric Moqtada Sadr against his rivals the Coordination Framework, which includes lawmakers from the party of his longtime foe, ex-prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Sadr wants snap elections and the dissolution of parliament but the Coordination Framework wants a new head of government appointed before any new polls are held.
Tensions boiled over into clashes on August 29 between the Sadrists, rival factions and the army in which more than 30 Sadr supporters were killed, after their leader said he was quitting politics.