Assassinations of tribal sheikhs shake Iraqi street, coincide with protests

Shaimaa Yahya

Under the slogan “We want a homeland”, the Iraqi people have gathered to chant for freedom and equality and to demand justice. These protests have been countered by the Iraqi security forces trying to force them to end the demonstrations, but they returned again to announce their rejection and adhere to their demands, while assassinations have also returned to Iraq again.

Baghdad’s central Al-Tayaran Square witnessed a number of demonstrators gather after their clash with the security forces, who demanded they withdraw from the squares and vacate Tahrir Square on November 1. In addition, clashes occurred in the far south of Basra after the protesters refused to leave the square, where the security forces decided to end the sit-in there by using tear gas canisters to disperse the people, which caused suffocation and many tents to burn.

On the evening of Sunday, November 1, demonstrations in support of the Basra sit-in began in Al-Haboubi Square in the southern city of Nasiriyah, as protesters confirmed their solidarity with the Basra protests and rejected the security forces’ attempts to end the demonstrations by force.

On Saturday, October 31, the Iraqi security forces reopened Tahrir Square in Baghdad more than a year after its closure. They also dismantled the tents in the field and reopened the Jamhuriya Bridge over the Tigris River, the link between Tahrir Square and the Green Zone, where most of the government and foreign embassies are located.

Some believe that the protesters have fully achieved their demands through the formation of a government headed by Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who was widely accepted and trusted by his predecessors.

Wave of assassinations

Coinciding with the ongoing protests, Iraq has also witnessed a wave of assassinations, as the leader of the Bani Tayy tribe, Sheikh Abdel Nasser al-Tarfi, was shot dead Sunday, November 1, by unknown gunmen in the Abu Rummaneh district. Tarfi was known for his support of popular protests in Iraq’s southern Maysan province.

Tarfi’s assassination raises concerns, as he was a prominent tribal leader and had supported the demands of the popular movement in Maysan and the rest of the Iraqi provinces, especially holding the corrupt accountable and threatening revenge for those killed in the protests.

The tribal leader had also attacked armed militias, expressed his support for the state security services, and more than once compared the activities of the militias with the activities of ISIS.

Meanwhile, on October 28, Iraq witnessed the killing of one of the sheikhs of the Bani Kaab tribe, Ali Fadhil al-Kaabi, as well as four members of his family, in the Muqdadiya district of Diyala by ISIS elements.