Three dead in clashes between Shia factions in Basra

The street fighting, which ended overnight after the deployment of security forces, follows fierce fighting that rocked Baghdad’s Green Zone on Monday and Tuesday and left 30 Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr’s troops dead.

Two members of the Peace Brigades, an armed faction under the orders of Moqtada Sadr, were killed in the evening by rivals of Asaïb Ahl al-Haq, a pro-Iran Shiite militia, said a security source under cover of the ‘anonymity.

The vehicle in which the pro-Sadr militants were traveling was targeted as it drove near the offices of Asaïb Ahl al-Haq, a faction that is part of Hashd al-Chaabi, former paramilitaries integrated into the regular troops .

Armed clashes then broke out between the two groups, and a fighter from Asaïb Ahl al-Haq was killed, the security source continued.

“I warn you”

By Thursday morning, the situation had “stabilized thanks to the deployment of security forces”, said the governor of Basra province, Assaad al-Aidani.

Mohammed Saleh al-Iraqi, a close associate of Moqtada Sadr, strongly condemned the murder of the two Peace Brigades fighters and attacked the leader of Asaïb Ahl al-Haq, Qaïs al-Khazali.

“I warn you, Qaïs! If you do not control your militias and if you do not disavow the murderers and criminals who are affiliated with you, you too will be an insolent”, he wrote in a statement on Twitter.

Entangled

Iraq has been mired in a political stalemate since parliamentary elections in October 2021, with Shiite political barons failing to agree on a new prime minister, or a new government.

The crisis culminated earlier this week with fighting in the Green Zone between supporters of Moqtada Sadr, on the one hand, and Hachd al-Shaabi men and the army, on the other.

Supporters of Moqtada Sadr invaded the ultra-secure perimeter in the heart of Baghdad after their leader announced his “permanent retirement” from politics.