Iraqi forces arrest five activists in Dhi Qar

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, a security force arrested five prominent civil society activists in Nasiriyah, the center of Dhi Qar Governorate.

A source explained to Shafaq News Agency that a security force from Baghdad apprehended activists Mohsen Al-Zaidi, Sattar Al-Azergawi, Ali Majeed, Muntazer Abdul-Karim, and Basem Al-Askari, from their houses without neither giving details about the reasons for the arrest nor coordinating with the security forces in Dhi Qar.

The Source confirmed that the five activists no longer participate in demonstrations.

Earlier this month, at least three demonstrators were killed and 20 injured in clashes with the Iraqi army in Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar's capital city.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that a group of demonstrators organized a "vigil Tuesday" to protest the government's failure to allocate land plots to the victims of the October 2019 demonstrations.

The event unfolded into confrontations with the law enforcement authorities, leading to injuries and deaths among the demonstrators.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, PM Muhammad S. Al-Sudani, directed sending a high-security committee to Dhi Qar Governorate to investigate the incident.

The Iraqi Minister of Interior, Abdul-Amir al-Shammari, dismissed the head of the governorate's police department after the clashes and assigned Brigadier-General Maki Manna to the duties of Dhi Qar's police chief in lieu.