Masked militants in Iraq to suppress people’s revolt for Iran’s sake

Ali Rajab

The media office of former Iraqi prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi, has rung the alarm over the presence of unidentified militants in Iraqi streets and around his office. It warned against the possible assassination of some Iraqi politicians.

This came as masked militants made their presence felt on the streets of Iraq in the face of peaceful demonstrators calling for the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi and ending Iranian interference in Iraq’s affairs.

We have noticed dubious moves by unidentified militants around the residence of prime minister Abadi, the office said in a statement on November 1.

It added that Abadi would continue to work to end the intimidation and killing of peaceful demonstrators on the streets of Iraq.

On October 6, unidentified militants attacked the offices of several TV channels. They attacked the office of al-Arabiya news channel in Baghdad. Videos shared by Iraqi social media users also showed militants opening fire on demonstrators and cars running over them.

Iraqi activists expressed fears, meanwhile, from expected assassinations by unidentified militias.

Iraqi political analyst Sabah al-Khozai referred to the presence of masked militants who attack the demonstrators.

“The masked men, the masked men, who are they?” al-Khozai asked on Twitter. “They hunt down the demonstrators on Baghdad’s rebelling streets.”

He revealed that the militants belonged to militias affiliated to the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

“Where is the international community?” al-Khozai asked. “Will you move to defend innocent Iraqis?”

Iraqi media host Omar al-Janabi quoted some demonstrators as saying that militants affiliated to Soleimani opened fire on them.

“Many friends have been jailed or killed without doing anything wrong,” al-Janabi said. “Many families do not know the whereabouts of their members.”

On October 3, Iraqi activist Hussein Adel and his wife Sara were found dead in a brutal manner at their home in the southern city of Basra.

The couple was killed by militants who broke into their home, security sources said.