Iraqi police officer killed, 7 injured in rally
Protests by supporters of a powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric turned deadly Saturday in Baghdad
Updated: 3:25 PM CST Feb 11, 2017
By Hamdi Alkhshali
Protests by supporters of a powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric turned deadly Saturday in Baghdad. A police officer was killed and seven others wounded during clashes between supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr and security forces, Baghdad's security operations command said Saturday. The cleric has called for the reform of Iraq's election commission, and demonstrators had gathered in support of him. Video of the rally shows police firing tear gas at the protesters. The rally reached outside the fortified Green Zone, an area housing government buildings and foreign embassies. Later Saturday, rockets fired from eastern Baghdad landed inside the Green Zone, Iraq's Joint Operations Command Center said, but it's unclear if that incident was related to the protests. There were no reports of casualties in the rocket firing. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered an investigation into the clashes.
BAGHDAD —
Protests by supporters of a powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric turned deadly Saturday in Baghdad.
A police officer was killed and seven others wounded during clashes between supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr and security forces, Baghdad's security operations command said Saturday.
The cleric has called for the reform of Iraq's election commission, and demonstrators had gathered in support of him.
Video of the rally shows police firing tear gas at the protesters.
The rally reached outside the fortified Green Zone, an area housing government buildings and foreign embassies.
Later Saturday, rockets fired from eastern Baghdad landed inside the Green Zone, Iraq's Joint Operations Command Center said, but it's unclear if that incident was related to the protests. There were no reports of casualties in the rocket firing.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered an investigation into the clashes.