Main Bridge, Squares Reopened in Baghdad

The Iraqi authorities reopened Al-Sink Bridge in the center of the capital, Baghdad, and several squares located next to it, months after they were closed by the protesters.

A statement issued by the Baghdad Operations Command said that the demonstrators chose a protest area in Tahrir Square, and that the authorities had therefore assigned a “protection force for them” and opened roads and other squares that were closed".

On another hand, the Baghdad Operations Command threatened to take action against those who violate and cut off roads during the protests.

Al-Sink Bridge and other streets of the city have been closed since the protests that started on October 1, 2019.

Earlier yesterday, clashes broke out between the security forces and the protesters, who tried to prevent security personnels from opening the bridge, where most of the victims of the demonstrations in Baghdad were reportedly killed throughout the recent months.

In another context, Reuters quoted senior sources that the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group had held urgent meetings with leaders of Iraqi armed factions in order to unify them follwing the assassination of their strong mentor, Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The two sources said that the meetings were aimed at coordinating the political efforts of the Iraqi armed factions, which are often pided. The Iraqi factions lost also in the same operation of killing Soleimani, another military leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

The armed factions backed by Tehran are important to Iran's efforts to maintain control of Iraq, in which the United States still keep about 5,000 military personnel.

The intervention of the Lebanese Hezbollah group represents an expansion of its role in the region. This Shiite group was founded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1982, and since then has been the focus of Iranian strategy in the region for years and helped Soleimani in training armed groups in both Iraq and Syria.