Iraqis mark seventh anniversary of Tishreen protests
Shafaq News- Baghdad (Updated at 12:02)
Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Sunday to mark the seventh anniversary of Iraq’s 2019 Tishreen protests, under heightened security in the nearby Bab Al-Sharqi district.
A Shafaq News correspondent said participants waved Iraqi flags and chanted slogans commemorating the 2019 protest movement.
Activist and journalist Muntadhar Al-Zaidi told Shafaq News that demonstrators were demanding accountability for the killing of protesters and answers about Iraq’s political and economic conditions seven years later. He called for Iraqis’ demands for dignity and freedom to be met and opposed “the monopolization of political power and its transfer within families,” urging authorities to identify those he accused of “misappropriating the country’s wealth and driving its budget to the brink of collapse.”
Baghdad Operations Command barred motorcycles and tuk-tuks from the area while keeping access roads open to pedestrians and other vehicles.
Owners of printing shops, illuminated sign businesses, and photography studios in Bab Al-Sharqi told Shafaq News on Saturday that security personnel had ordered them to close until the demonstrations ended and warned them against producing anti-government banners or slogans.
انتشار أمني مكثف في #ساحة_التحرير وسط #بغداد قبيل انطلاق التظاهرات #شفق_نيوز https://t.co/WPNfuf74rH
— شفق نيوز - shafaq news (@shafaqnewsarb) October 25, 2026
The Tishreen protests erupted on October 1, 2019, in Baghdad and southern Iraq over corruption, unemployment, and poor public services, before resuming on October 25 after a brief pause. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, said at least 541 protesters were killed and more than 20,000 wounded during the unrest.
Read more: Iraq’s protests after Tishreen: A system that learned how to contain the street
