Rockets fired at Iraq's Basra airport after protests erupt into violence

An Iraqi protester walks next to burning military trucks, attacked by angry protesters in Basra yesterday
EPA/Murtaja Lateef
Nick Charity8 September 2018

Basra airport has been hit by three rockets as protests against Iraq's administration reignited after a week of violence.

Demonstrators torched the Iranian consulate and briefly took oilfield workers hostage in the course of a night-long riot this week, over the perceived misrule by Iraq's political elite.

Iraqi security sources said three Katyusha rockets fired by unknown assailants hit the perimeter of the airport on Saturday morning, although no damage or casualties were been reported.

The US consulate is adjacent to the plot at Iraq's second biggest city.

Iraqi protesters wave a national flag while demonstrating outside the burnt-down local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra
AFP/Getty/Haidar Mohammed Ali

Airport officials said there was no disruption to operations, and flights were taking off and landing as normal after the attack, which followed the lifting of a citywide curfew.

Protesters had blocked the main entrance of the Umm Qasr seaport since Thursday, leaving the key entry point for imported food on shut down for two days before re-opening this morning.

Arab News reports that 12 people have been killed in the chaos, prompted by anger over complaints of a shortage of electricity an water in the city, where some 30,000 people are said to be taken to hospital after drinking polluted water.

An Iraqi protester stands flashing the victory gesture outside the burning headquarters of the Iranian consulate
AFP/Getty Images

Demonstrators reportedly targeted government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of political parties and militias considered close to Tehran.

The buildings were ransacked and set alight by protesters, in a resurgence of anger against "political corruption" and perceived Iranian control on political affairs.

Another group of protesters entered a water treatment facility linked to the West Qurna 2 oilfield, held two Iraqi employees hostage for about an hour before leaving peacefully. Production was not disrupted, a manager at the oilfield said.

A man mourns over the body of his relative, Ali Qassim, killed during a protest on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
AP

Both Iran and Iraq strongly condemned the move, raising fears of possible retribution. The military is imposing another curfew tonight, from 4pm across the city.

Parliament convened an emergency session to discuss the escalating crisis in Basra on Saturday afternoon, when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned against the politicisation of the crisis.

"Politics should be separated from security and services," he said, warning that the situation could descend into armed conflict.

At a cabinet meeting earlier on Saturday, ministers agreed to send a delegation to Basra, and Abadi said he had ordered an investigation into the security forces "for not fulfilling their duties" in protecting government buildings and the Iranian consulate.

Reuters/Alaa Al-Marjani

At least a dozen protesters have died, including three on Friday. Another 48 were wounded, 26 of whom were shot, sources said, while two members of the security force were wounded.

The protests in Iraq's oil-rich southern Shiite heartland are calling for an end to endemic corruption, soaring joblessness and poor public services.

The unrest emerged as Iraq is trapped in a state of crisis after an inconclusive election in May, and is yet to decide on a new government.

A protester poses for a "selfie amid the burning rubble at the headquarters of the Iranian consulate in Basra
AFP/Getty/Haidar Mohammed Ali

And violence came from both sides as demonstrated attempted to breach the city's presidential palace where Shiite paramilitary troops were stationed, and at least three cars driven by troops ploughed into the protesters, killing one and wounding four others, according to a health official.

Elsewhere in the city, guards of the Iran-backed Assaib Ahl Al-Haq Shiite militia opened fire on protesters.

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