IRAQ Basra, at least four dead in clashes between Sadrists and pro-Iranians

The violence between rival Shiite factions has moved from the capital to the south of the country, where the main oil pole is located. Since last night, the militiamen of the two fronts collide in violent clashes. Tensions are also mounting in Baghdad: missiles hit a mosque in the eastern suburbs. There is material damage but no victims are recorded.

Baghdad () – After yesterday’s day of relative calm and without serious episodes of violence, new victims are reported in Iraq today. The nation has been dealing with an institutional blockade for almost a year and is on the verge of a civil war. The scene of the clashes is the city of Basra, in the south, where rival Shiite Muslim militants clashed last night and this morning. Security sources report that the provisional balance is at least four dead and several wounded.

Yesterday, various political and religious personalities They called for calm and requested the holding of early elections. This is intended to put an end to the political stalemate that the country has suffered since October last year, and which prevents the election of a new President of the Republic and a government with full powers. . The deadlock situation has further exacerbated the internal dysfunctions of the state apparatus and social instability, finally affecting a population that for at least two decades has had to face conflicts, sanctions, civil unrest, ethnic-religious extremism and a endemic corruption.

The latest wave of violence was triggered after the announcement of the definitive withdrawal of the Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr (opposer to the pro-Iranian militias). After making public his farewell from the country’s political life, he asked his supporters and supporters to withdraw to avoid further “Iraqi bloodshed”. The scene of today’s clashes was the center of Basra, Iraq’s main oil pole. Two of the victims were members of Al Sadr’s Peace Brigades militia, opposed to the pro-Iranian jihadist movement of Asa’ib Ahl al Haqq.

There were also moments of tension in the eastern suburbs of Baghdad today, when a missile hit a place of worship. The target of the attack was a ceremonial hall and the mosque of Amir Ali bin Abi Talib in Nahrawan, east of the capital. According to an internal security source, relayed by Shafaq, the attack occurred at dawn and caused material damage, but no deaths or injuries were recorded.