On the night of Friday to Saturday, at least 24 people were killed, 20 demonstrators and four policemen, and a hundred others wounded, when unidentified gunmen attacked, the knife and the machine gun, the garage of Sinak protesters occupy an extension of Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq.
The testimony of a protester from Tahrir Square, collected by Amnesty International, corroborates those published on social networks and news agencies. At dusk, Friday, December 6, "We heard and saw machine guns kalachnikov BKC, he says. At least seven BKCs were installed on pick-ups that entered the Sinak Bridge and Garage area. My friend saw some of the armed men wearing BKCs. It's not clear how it started. What is clear is that they already had men in the crowd because when it started, they came from two directions "he continues, pointing to armed men in civilian clothes.
Heavy gunfire echoed near the two-storey garage occupied by protesters, then inside, where a fire broke out, and on the adjacent bridge. "They had total control of the area (…)continues the anonymous witness. They controlled it until six in the morning. "
The fear of escalation between Shiite armed groups
The "Sinak massacre", as the protesters call it, is a turning point in the contest against power, which has already left more than 445 dead and 20,000 injured since 1st October. He fears new attacks on the sit-in and a dangerous escalation between Shiite armed groups, while the negotiations are initiated to appoint a prime minister after the resignation of Adel Abdel Mahdi, November 29.
Protesters accuse Iranian-backed Shiite militia members of being behind the attack. They are already suspected of deploying snipers in Baghdad in the first week of October, which claimed many lives, and carried out attacks on sit-ins and killings of militants in towns south of Baghdad. country. On Thursday, during a counter-demonstration by members of Shiite militias on Tahrir Square, protesters were stabbed.
After the slaughter of Sinak, President Barham Saleh called for "Protect peaceful protesters" and find and judge " the criminals ". But since the beginning of the protest, the authorities claim they can neither identify nor arrest the perpetrators of attacks on protesters in a country where pro-Iran armed factions are gaining influence, and merely " third part ".
