{"id":25474,"date":"2016-05-21T04:45:29","date_gmt":"2016-05-21T04:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/dozens-injured-as-protesters-storm-baghdad-s\/"},"modified":"2016-05-21T04:45:10","modified_gmt":"2016-05-21T04:45:10","slug":"dozens-injured-as-protesters-storm-baghdad-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/dozens-injured-as-protesters-storm-baghdad-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens injured as protesters storm Baghdad’s Green Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Security forces open fire after protesters break into high security area that houses PM’s office and foreign embassies.}<\/p>\n

Iraqi security forces opened fire and used tear gas on protesters, who stormed into Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone on Friday for the second time within a month.<\/p>\n

Dozens of demonstrators were injured by tear gas and live fire, witnesses told Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n

Some security personnel were stabbed, according to a military statement. Authorities could not immediately verify reports that several civilians had been killed.<\/p>\n

“Oh army, the country is hurt! Don’t side with the corrupt!” the demonstrators chanted.<\/p>\n

The thousands of protesters included supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the government’s failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and provide security.<\/p>\n

“Infiltrators exploited our forces’ preoccupation with preparations for the Falluja battle to penetrate state institutions and cause chaos,” the military said, referring to a city 50km west of Baghdad controlled by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for more than two years.<\/p>\n

The government briefly imposed a curfew on Baghdad and authorities later said order had returned after what they called rioting at the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government buildings and many foreign embassies.<\/p>\n

Al-Sadr, who did not explicitly call for Friday’s demonstration, expressed support for protesters and condemned security forces’ use of force against them.<\/p>\n

“I respect your choice and your peaceful spontaneous revolt,” Sadr said in a statement. “Curse the government that kills its children in cold blood.”<\/p>\n

Protesters occupied the cabinet building for several hours. Some held Iraqi flags and flashed peace signs near the insignia of the prime minister’s press office and inside a meeting room.<\/p>\n

The protesters eventually withdrew to Tahrir Square, but witnesses said security forces and unidentified gunmen opened fire there as well.<\/p>\n

Supporters of al-Sadr and other groups have been protesting for months to demand reforms and an end to corruption and provide security. They had stormed the Green Zone on April 30.<\/p>\n

They have added to their grievances the government’s failure to provide security after a wave of bombings claimed by ISIL, which is also known as ISIS, in Baghdad this month which killed more than 150 people.<\/p>\n

Iraq’s political crisis broke out in February, when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced plans to appoint a cabinet of independent technocrats, threatening to uproot a system of political patronage that makes the public administration open to corruption.<\/p>\n

He has warned that the impasse could hamper Iraq’s fight against ISIL, which continues to control territory in northern and western Iraq.<\/p>\n

\"Sadr's<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Security forces open fire after protesters break into high security area that houses PM’s office and foreign embassies.} Iraqi security forces opened fire and used tear gas on protesters, who stormed into Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone on Friday for the second time within a month. Dozens of demonstrators were injured by tear gas and live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[101],"byline":[2474],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-25474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-internationl","byline-al-jazeera"],"bylines":[{"id":2474,"name":"AL JAZEERA","slug":"al-jazeera","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2474,"name":"AL JAZEERA","slug":"al-jazeera","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25474"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=25474"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=25474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}