Protester killed with silenced gun in Baghdad: report

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Unknown assailants attacked a tent at an anti-government protest camp in Baghdad, killing one demonstrator with a silenced pistol, security and medical sources said on Friday.

AFP reported that the incident occurred in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Friday evening. A medical source confirmed the death to the agency, saying it had been carried out using a silenced pistol.

The report cited a witness at the site as having said he had seen many people enter the dead demonstrator’s tent before dragging a body out and taking it to a nearby hospital.

It was unclear why the person was targeted. According to a security source, on Friday and Saturday, three activists were kidnapped in separate areas of Baghdad.

Official data from last month noted that unidentified gunmen have assassinated up to 30 activists, most of whom participated in the anti-government protests that erupted late last year to call for the ouster of Iraq’s ruling elite.

Since they began in early October, Iraqi security forces and Iranian-backed Shia militias have killed over 600 protesters in different parts of the country, according to official statistics. The vast majority of the dead are young protesters who have been disillusioned by a ruling class they see as unashamedly corrupt and dismissive of the everyday concerns of the public.

The movement has maintained momentum, although it has slightly diminished. In recent days, women spearheaded one such protest, marching by the hundreds in the capital to call for, among others, equality and end to corruption

Demonstrators also continue to stay at their tents in sit-in areas of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, as unidentified gunmen continue to wage a violent crackdown. Recently, followers and militias of the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have joined attacking demonstration camps.

Read More: Sadr militia, supporters kill 8 Iraqi protesters and wound dozens in Najaf

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany