According to press reports, at least six people were killed in clashes in the Iraqi city of Najaf last Wednesday, after supporters of the Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr stormed a gathering of protesters against the government.
Medical sources said that at least 20 people were wounded, and no further details were available.
Security sources reported to the BBC Arabic website that supporters of Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, known as the “Blue Hats”, tried to evacuate the area from protesters, who resisted them in turn.
According to Reuters news agency, the mentioned “Blue Hats” group burned the protesters' tents and gunshots were later heard, killing six people.
AFP raised the number of martyrs to seven people, quoting medical sources.
It is noteworthy that Al-Sadr initially supported the popular movement, then abandoned it, and appealed to his followers last week to help the authorities “to restore normal life” in the streets of Iraqi cities.
He called on his followers to clear closed streets from barriers and to open them for traffic, and to enable schools and commercial institutions to carry out their work.
Sadr supporters had previously supported the demonstrators and at times helped to protect them from attacks by security forces and unidentified gunmen, but they withdrew from major sit-in camps at the request of al-Sadr earlier, participating in the attack on protesters in Tahrir Square in the center of Baghdad.
The demonstrators in Baghdad and other governorates witnessing protests, considered the call of Sadr and the control of the “Blue Hats” over the building of the Turkish restaurant in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, moves aimed at preventing them from expressing their rejection of Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi’s assignment as head of the government.
They also labelled it as a “coup” against them and their protest movement, and that it is an unfortunate start of the new government which started its era by defusing al-Sadr.
Muqtada al-Sadr announced the founding of the “Blue Hats” last October, when the popular movement against the government erupted.
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