Assassinations, kidnappings shake Baghdad
Journalists and activists fear being targeted as another wave of protests and violence occur in Iraq.
After months of relative calm, assassinations and kidnappings have returned to menace Baghdad's streets.
When two protesters were shot dead in Baghdad’s Tayeran Square, near Tahrir Square, on July 26, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an urgent investigation. The prime minister addressed the Iraqi people in a televised speech on Monday, saying that he had ordered the security forces not to target the protesters under any circumstances.
“The security forces do not have permission to fire even a single bullet toward our protesting brothers,” Kadhimi said.
He attributed the violence to political rivals without naming them, accusing them of using the protests for political gain and "trying to fish in troubled water."
