(Beirut) – Unidentified gunmen have since August 14, 2020, assassinated two protesters and wounded another four, all linked to a youth protest group with political aspirations in Basra, in southern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. They are the most recent victims of killings of hundreds of protesters in Baghdad and southern Iraq since October 2019, including by abusive security forces.The authorities have done little to stop the killings. Despite promises since May from Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for accountability for excessive use…

Iraq said on Tuesday that it is close to finding evidence that will hold the murderers of anti-government protesters in Basra to account. Frustration against the government flared up in the southern oil city last week after gunmen shot dead protest leader Reham Yacoub in her car. It was the third such attack against campaigners in Basra in a week. “We are close to obtaining vital evidence related to the perpetrators who carried out the recent assassinations in Basra,” military spokesman Yahya…

After the destruction of the offices of Iran-backed Badr Corps, the Asaeb and the National Wisdom Movement (Tayar al-Hikmah al-Watani) and the Dawa Party of Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi rebellious youth in Nasiriyah gathered in Habubi Square. They celebrated this victory and getting rid of the offices of parties and gangs affiliated with the Iranian Quds Force. In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, youths expressed their solidarity with the rebellious youth in Nasiriyah and they emphasized their determination to continue the uprising…

Angry protesters in the city of Nasiriyah tore down Saturday the offices of political parties after a series of assassinations targeted prominent activists in southern Iraq.Videos and photos circulating on social media showed activists demolishing the offices of political parties in Iraq’s southern province of Dhi Qar to protest attacks on demonstrators. The protesters were escorted by bulldozers, demolishing the offices of the Dawa Party, the Badr Organization, Assa’eb Ahl al-Haq, Hezbollah, the Socialist Party, al-Hikma Movement and the house…

An entire generation of Iraqi activists is being attacked, threatened or forced to flee the country. In many cases, they are paying with their lives for standing up against corruption and militias meddling in Iraqi affairs – many of them backed by Iran. Ali Al Bayati, spokesman for the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights, has said, “It seems that there is a well-programmed cleansing of activists who were influential in the last protest movement.” More than 700 unarmed…

Protesters in the southern Iraqi city of Basra set fire to parliament’s local office on Friday as security forces fired live rounds in the air to disperse them, a Reuters witness and security sources said. The protesters had gathered to demand that Iraq’s parliament sack the provincial governor after two activists were killed and others wounded in three separate attacks by unknown gunmen this week. Security forces opened fire while the protesters lobbed petrol bombs. Activist Reham Yacoub, who had…

 From Middle East Monitor , under a Creative Commons licence. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News . The Iraqi Commission of Integrity (COI) said on Tuesday it had charged 50 ministers and 480 senior ranking officials with corruption as well as recovering and preventing the wasting of more than 4 trillion Iraqi dinars ($3.3 billion) over the past two years. COI Chairman, Mazhar Turki, told reporters that the…

United States-led troops have withdrawn from a base near Iraq's capital Baghdad that has been repeatedly targeted by Iran-backed militias this year, the coalition said.  The Taji military base has frequently been hit by rockets since the United States killed Qassem Soleimani, then the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at the turn of the year.  "The movement of coalition military personnel is part of a long-range plan coordinated with the government of Iraq,"…

WASHINGTON — President Trump met with Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi prime minister, at the White House on Thursday, continuing months of negotiations between the two governments over the presence of American troops in the country. Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief, culminated two days of high-level gatherings between senior American and Iraqi officials that covered a range of security, energy, economic and health issues. But a central focus of the prime minister’s visit is the negotiations,…

BASRA, Iraq — Protesters torched parliament offices in Iraq's oil-rich south on Friday following days of inaction by the government after two activists were assassinated. Demonstrators burned the outer gate of the entrance to the parliament building in Basra province, the area that produces the lion's share of Iraq's oil. The building holds the local offices of Iraq's main parliament building'in the capital Baghdad. It was the most violent incident in Basra since mass anti-government demonstrations in October, when tens…