A number of unidentified militias penetrated Tahrir Square and the Sanak Bridge area in central Baghdad on the evening of Dec. 6, targeting protesters with live fire and carrying out field executions of some demonstrators. Dozens have been reported killed and many more wounded. Clashes are still ongoing. 

One of the protest coordinators told Al-Monitor from Sanak Bridge via phone, "A massacre is taking place here. We have been able to capture a few of the attackers. We found IDs with the name and logo of Kataib Hezbollah in their pockets."

Abdul Mahdi Karbali, the representative of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called upon the Iraqi parliament Dec. 6 to choose the new prime minister without foreign interference and within the constitutional deadline, which is 15 days after the prime minister's resignation.

Al-Monitor learned from top Iraqi security officials that the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, is leading a security committee in Baghdad working on new tactics to end the protests and form a new government as soon as possible.