Dozens of People Dead after Iraqi Raid on Sunni Protest Camp

At least 27 people, mostly Sunni protesters and gunmen were left dead with 70 others injured in the northern city of Hawija on Tuesday, after a clash between gunmen and Iraq’s security forces in Kirkuk province, according to a senior Iraqi official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.  

Although, there have been conflicting reports on the actual death toll, but, there were losses on both sides as 3 security officers and 20 protesters were killed, according to the defense ministry.

The clash began when Iraq’s security forces, who were on the manhunt for wanted persons, raided the al-Atisam Square, which happen to be the site where the Sunni protesters were demonstrating.

In a statement, the defense ministry said, ‘when the armed forces started to enforce the law using units of riot control forces, they were confronted with heavy fire.’ In the raid, they detained some protesters and confiscated a huge arsenal of assorted weapons like AK-47s, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

In a contrasting report, the protesters have claimed that they were unarmed when the security forces raided their site. A protester, Ahmed Hawija, claimed that when the security forces raided the square, they (the protesters) were unprepared and unarmed, and the security forces crushed some of them (the protesters) in their vehicles.

The violence didn’t end there. 3 checkpoints around Hawija were also seized by tribal Sunni militants for a short while, until government forces took control later.

Earlier Tuesday, some Sunnis also came under attack in southern Baghdad when two roadside bombs went off as worshippers exited a mosque. 7 people were reported dead, with about 13 others injured, according to police reports.

Tensions between the Shiites and the Sunnis have only grown worse with the latest development. In the Anbar province of Falluja, there have been reports of angered citizens setting two army vehicles on fire, and others near Falluja attacked an army convoy.

While Sunni politicians have pointed accusing fingers at the Shiite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, for the assault on the peaceful Sunni protesters, Iraqi House Speaker, Osama al-Najafi issued a strong condemnation on the military.

He said, ‘we condemn in the strongest words of condemnation and denunciation the unfortunate crime committed by the army against the demonstrators in Hawija.’

Al-Maliki has ordered an investigation, and instructed that aid be given to the wounded, with compensation to the aggrieved families.

It was also reported that two Sunni Cabinet members- Mohammed Tameem and Abdul Karim al-Samarrai, Minister of Education and Minister of Science and Technology respectively, have resigned over the actions on the protesters by security forces.

Thousands of protesters left their homes to protest on the streets that are predominantly Sunni provinces, demanding that the Shiite-led government should stop looking down on Sunni community, since December.