Sadrists call for removal of militias from Baghdad Green Zone after week of bloodshed

Iraq's Sadrist Movement has called for militias, including factions of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi), to be removed from"sensitive" areas, including Baghdad's Green Zone, after a week of particularly deadly violence.

Five people were killed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Thursday when Saraya Al-Salam, a militia affiliated with the Sadrist Movement, clashed with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, a PMF faction.

Two of those killed were from Saraya al-Salam, while three were from Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, a senior security official in Basra told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. They added that the situation had since calmed after the heavy deployment of state security forces.

Baghdad's Green Zone, home to many state institutions, witnessed heavy bloodshed on Monday when supporters of the Sadrist Movement stormed the area in violence that killed 30 people after its leader, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said he would quit politics.

Salih Mohammad al-Iraqi, a shadowy figure on Twitter believed to be a senior adviser to Muqtada Al-Sadr, urged caretaker prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to have state forces take over "sensitive" areas and remove all PMF militia factions from the Green Zone.

Al-Iraqi also called for al-Kadhimi to remove Falih al-Fayyadh from his position as chairman of the PMF, saying he was unfit to hold the role.

The PMF is a state-sanctioned umbrella group of militias backed by Iran. Some have been accused of grave human rights violations, including the killing and kidnapping of prominent figures in Iraq's popular protest movement that began in October 2019.

Iraqi leaders have failed to hold the factions accountable for such abuses.

Some of the militias are linked to members of the Coordination Framework, the umbrella group of Iran-backed political parties that are the main opponents of Sadr and his party.

The two sides have been engaged in a political deadlock that has left Iraq without a government for almost a year.

The Sadrists won the largest share of seats in the October election but failed to form a majority government. MPs belonging to Sadr's bloc later resigned from parliament, and his supporters last month stormed the parliament building in Baghdad.

Sadr has demanded that parliament be dissolved and early elections held, while the Coordination Framework said that parliament would have to convene to dissolve itself.

Iraq's top court said it would give a ruling on parliament's dissolution next week.