On Sunday, thousands of Iraqi protesters rallied in Baghdad’s iconic Tahrir Square and its highly-fortified Green Zone to mark the first anniversary of a protest movement that has rocked the political elite but has yet to achieve its goal of sweeping reform.
The Iraqi mass protests began on October 1 last year and peaked on October 25 against unemployment, corruption and incompetence in public services.
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At least 600 people were killed in last year's public demonstrations by security forces.
Mass rallies in Tahrir Square took to streets today while brandishing placards and Iraqi flags gathered in Tahrir Square in the heart of Baghdad and chanting revolutionary slogans against the government reluctance in a scene reminiscent of last year’s rallies.
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“Our blood, our souls, we sacrifice for you Iraq,” chanted hundreds of protesters as they marched in Baghdad.
Iraqi media reported that several protesters wounded due to clashes against security troops in Allawi region, central Baghdad.
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Large groups of protesters also gathered in other southern provinces including Babylon and Basra, holding posters and chanting anti-government slogans.
Protesters from various parts of Iraq started making their way to the capital last night for Sunday's protests.
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The renewed mass protests has retained the Iraqis' key demand of the ouster of the entire ruling class accused of corruption and being beholden to neighboring Iran.
They also are demanding full disclosure of those responsible for the killing of civilians in last year's protests, as well as their backers, and want them to be punished.
The 25 October demonstrations, which were the largest demonstrations in Iraq after 2003 and continued for a long time, and had led to the resignation of the government headed by Adil abdul Mahdi
But on the ground, little has been achieved. The new government, headed by Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has yet to deliver major reforms for country where, the World Bank says, one in three young people is unemployed.
Iraq has also witnessed a series of assassinations and forced disappearances of journalists and political activists since October 2019.
Al-Kadhimi pledged to investigate the recent killings, but no one has been held accountable to date.
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