Riot police withdraw in southern Iraq province after clashes
Police in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar were
instructed to withdraw and follow up on the situation on Friday, following
protests in the province, a security source told Al Arabiya.
Dhi Qar province, particularly its capital
Nasiriyah, has witnessed some of the most intense clashes between protesters
and Iraqi security forces during the ongoing demonstrations which have gripped
the country since early October.
The order comes the night after thirteen people were
killed in in one of the “worst” days of clashes in the country’s south,
according to officials.
Several roads remain blocked by protesters in Basra,
as well as bridges and roads in Najaf.
Elsewhere in the south, protesters had previously
cut roads leading to Umm Qasr, the country’s main commodities port, halting all
trade activity. Security forces cleared the area of protesters on Thursday,
with at least two protesters killed.
The al-Shayeb border crossing has been reopened for
people traveling from Iraq to Iran, the border authority announced on Monday.
A statement issued by the authority received by the
Iraqi News Agency stated that “the Al-Shayeb border crossing is re-opened after
being closed on November 16, 2019.”
The closure, at the request of the Iranian side, was
caused by protests in Iran.
The Iraqi News Agency also reported that a group of
“outlaws” targeted security forces with hand grenades and Molotov cocktails in
the Hafez al-Qadi area in Baghdad, injuring 11.
It added that security forces made several arrests
after the incident.
In the meantime, the Iranian Foreign Ministry is
advising its citizens not to travel to Iraq anytime soon, reported the official
IRNA news agency.
Iraq’s Commission of Integrity on Monday also
rejected granting a pardon to the governor of Babylon province and issued an
arrest warrant against him on the back of corruption allegations.
Mahmoud Al-Mulla Talal, the vice president of the
National Wisdom Movement (NWM), has also been arrested in Baghdad for taking
bribes.
