Supporters stormed the government building after Shiite politician Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from politics.
18:07•Updated 21:01
The Iraqi army has declared a nationwide curfew starting at seven in the evening. The goal is to calm the unrest that has existed in Iraq for a long time.
The unrest is caused by a confused political situation. According to the news agency AFP, 12 people have been killed and 270 injured in the most recent clashes in the capital, Baghdad.
The latest unrest erupted when a Shia politician Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from politics and his supporters stormed the government building.
After this, supporters of the Shia leader and pro-Iranians threw stones at each other in Baghdad’s administrative area, i.e. the so-called green zone. According to eyewitnesses, different factions have also shot at each other.
The security forces have tried to break up the rioting crowd of hundreds of people using, among other things, tear gas.
There have also been unrest in other parts of Iraq.
The country has tried in vain to form a government since the elections held last October. Al-Sadr’s supporters got the largest vote share, i.e. 73 seats in the country’s 329-seat parliament. The promises of reforms appealed especially to the needy part of the population of Iraq, who are now frustrated while waiting for change.
Al-Sadr’s supporters took over the Iraqi parliament in July in protest against the fact that he was about to be appointed prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudanwhich the protesters consider to have too close relations with neighboring Iran.