On Friday, some protestors managed to enter the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi before pulling out.
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Anti-government protesters stormed Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Friday, heightening concerns about political stability at a critical time in Iraq, Reuters reported.
Dozens of people were injured from tear gas and live fire, the witnesses said.
The initial breach was largely carried out by supporters of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and followed repeated delays to proposed government reform legislation.
The authorities later said they had completely regained control of the area and the protesters had withdrawn.
Police and hospital officials said the clashes left more than a hundred protesters injured, five seriously.
Protesters withdrew from the Parliament building and Prime Ministry following security forces’ intervention. Security forces fired tear gas and gunshots in the air.
Sadr announced in a statement that “peaceful protests” would continue, and warned that “no side has the right to prevent that”.
But Abadi subsequently sacked the security chief for the Green Zone and beefed up measures around the restricted area. Al-Abadi later replaced the head of the compound security.
They forced the demonstrators back down a street alongside the Green Zone, harrying them with tear gas canisters that hissed into the middle of the crowd.
Last month, demonstrators faced little resistance when they entered the Green Zone and stormed parliament. Sadr City, a stronghold for Sadr’s supporters, was struck by a second large market bombing by Islamic State in the space of a week on Wednesday, with many directing blame at the government for failing to protect them.
In the latest episode of political and violent turmoil facing the country, the protests of the Sadr movement have been met with harsh crackdowns by state security.
Shia Muslim clerics pray over the coffins of anti-government protesters.
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The move sharply underscored the deepening political battles in the capital between the Western-backed government and opponents claiming widespread corruption and failures to stabilize the country.
