Iraq Death Toll Rises as Military Sends Commanders to Provinces
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Officials in Iraq's southern Nasiriyah announced they were imposing a city-wide curfew on Thursday after 14 people were shot dead in a crackdown on anti-government rallies. Security forces were deployed around the edges of the city, searching all cars and people trying to enter, an Agence Frane Presse correspondent said. It followed a similar curfew imposed on the city of Najaf after the Iranian consulate there was torched by protesters overnight. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi has dispatched military commanders to several provinces swept up by the protests in a bid to "restore order". Iraqi authorities on Thursday said they had set up "crisis cells" that would be jointly led by military leaders and civilian governors in Iraq's provinces in order to stem spiraling popular unrest, according to a military statement. The statement said the cells would be headed by provincial governors but that military leaders would be appointed as members and "take over military and security services in (each) province." Meanwhile, Iran demanded Iraq take decisive action against "aggressors" behind the arson attack by protesters on its consulate in Najaf. Foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, quoted by state news agency IRNA, condemned the attack and "demanded decisive, effective and responsible action... against destructive agents and aggressors". "Iran has officially communicated its disgust to the Iraqi ambassador in Tehran," he said. Iran's consulate in Karbala was targeted earlier this month, and security forces defending the site shot four demonstrators dead at the time. The violence in Iraq has killed more than 350 people, according to police and medics.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2011961/iraq-death-toll-rises-military-sends-commanders-provinces
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