Iraq's PM meets the security leaders to discuss the violent clashes in center Baghdad
Shafaq News/ A security source reported that the Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, met on Friday evening with security leaders to discuss developments of the demonstrators in central Baghdad.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that Al-Kadhimi met with security leaders at the headquarters of the Joint Operations Command inside the Green Zone and discussed the latest developments and the violent clashes between the security forces and the demonstrators in front of the suspension bridge, one of the heavily-fortified Green Zone gates.
This meeting comes after the clashes between the Green Zone vicinity took a "dangerous" turn.
A source told our Agency, "The security forces fired rubber and live bullets in the air to disperse the demonstrators and move them away from the Green Zone gate."
He added that "some demonstrators shot fire at the security forces."
The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environmental announced on Friday that 125 protesters and security forces were injured during the conflicts in central Baghdad.
In a statement, the ministry said, "The institutions of the Ministry of Health in Baghdad received 125 injuries in which 27 are civilians, and 98 are from the security forces."
According to the statement, no deaths were recorded.
Violent confrontations broke out between the demonstrators and the security forces when the popular gathering tried to storm the Green Zone. The security forces prevented them by firing rubber bullets and tear gas canisters.
On Thursday, the "preparatory committee for the demonstrations rejecting the election results" in Iraq threatened to escalate in the next stage if the announced results were preserved.
The committee called for "peaceful demonstrations to be held under the slogan "Friday of the Last Chance" before they start another (unspecified) stage."
The protesters, supporters of the losing forces, led by the Al-Fateh Alliance, call for a manual recount of all stations across the country.
