URGENT: Sadr supporters storm Baghdad’s Green Zone, state of emergency declared
Followers of Iraq’s Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are seen in the parliament building as they storm Baghdad’s Green Zone after lawmakers failed to convene for a vote on overhauling the government, in Iraq April 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Saturday, hundreds of the Sadrist movement’s followers stormed into the Green Zone in Baghdad and entered the parliament building after lawmakers failed to vote on the new ministerial reshuffle.
An informed source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The protesters, who demonstrated in front of the gates of the Green Zone, crossed a bridge over the Tigris River chanting ‘The cowards ran away!’ in apparent reference to lawmakers leaving parliament.”
“There were no reports of clashes with security forces, but Special Forces personnel from the Iraqi Army were dispatched with armored vehicles to protect sensitive sites. No curfew has been imposed,” security sources said.
A guard at a security checkpoint reported for IraqiNews.com, “The protesters were not searched before entering,” pointing out that, “About ten members of the Sadrist movement were checking protesters cursorily as government security forces, who usually carry out careful searches with bomb-sniffing dogs, stood by the side.”
A state of emergency has been declared in Baghdad and the city’s gates were closed after the protesters stormed the parliament.