Violence left nearly 50 people dead in two major southern cities when members of a shadowy, messianic cult attacked police and fellow Shiite worshippers -- a year after a similar plot was foiled during Shiite Islam's most important holiday.
Iraqi authorities said at least 36 people were reported killed in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, and at least 10 in Nasiriyah, where witnesses said US-led coalition jet fighters and helicopter gunships on Friday targeted a police station seized by cult gunmen.
US military spokesman Major Brad Leighton said jet fighters flew over the area in a show of force after the Iraqi's requested help, but no airstrikes occured. Some clashes raged into the night, raising the possibility of more casualties.
PHOTO: AP
The assaults were launched as hundreds of thousands of Shiites observed the Ashoura holiday by marching, singing and beating their chests to honor the martyrdom of their most beloved saint. Followers of the cult -- the Soldiers of Heaven -- seek to speed the return of another Shiite figure known as a "Hidden Imam," who believers say will bring justice to the world.
There were conflicting accounts about how the attacks developed, but all signs pointed to the Soldiers of Heaven cult.
The group's bloody aims are seen as a bid to bring the return of the "Hidden Imam" -- also known as the Mahdi -- a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad who disappeared as a child in the ninth century. Shiites believe he will return one day to bring justice to Earth.
Friday's attack began when militants carrying yellow flags or wearing yellow headbands, the cult's color, fired mortars at a police station in Nasiriyah, about 320km south of Baghdad. A shootout with police followed.
A police officer said at least 10 people were killed -- seven policemen, including two senior officers, two female civilians and one gunman. He also said more than 50 people were injured after gunmen stormed the building of a quick reaction force in the city.
Street battles also broke out in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, after cultists opened fire on a police patrol. Police torched a mosque belonging to the cult after militants fired at officers from inside, authorities said.
The militant cult members also shot at Shiite worshippers taking part in Ashoura observances, Basra Governor Mohammed al-Waili said. No injuries were reported.
"These terrorist groups have opened fire randomly on citizens and Shiite mourners and we are about to eliminate or arrest them," the governor said.
Basra police chief Major General Abdul-Jalil Khalaf said 30 militants and six security forces were killed. He also said 30 militants were detained.
Khalaf said the leader of the group in Basra, whom he identified as Abu Mustafa al-Ansari, was among those who died.
About eight hours after the clashes began, the government said Iraqi security forces had restored calm in the cities after "heretics" attacked Ashoura processions.
Iraqi authorities maintained tight security along roads into the Shiite holy city of Karbala, the center of the Ashoura observances, which have been going on for about a week in much of the country. Karbala, about 80km south of Baghdad, is home to the tomb of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson who was killed during a seventh century battle in the area.
Pilgrims lined up to be searched at the entrance of the twin shrines of Hussein and his brother Abbas, about 350m apart. The streets were lined with tents providing tea, milk, food and first aid. The climax of Ashoura -- a massive procession toward the golden-domed Imam Hussein shrine -- was held yesterday morning.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
CONSOLIDATION: The Indonesian president has used the moment to replace figures from former president Jokowi’s tenure with loyal allies In removing Indonesia’s finance minister and U-turning on protester demands, the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is scrambling to restore public trust while seizing a chance to install loyalists after deadly riots last month, experts say. Demonstrations that were sparked by low wages, unemployment and anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks grew after footage spread of a paramilitary police vehicle running over a delivery motorcycle driver. The ensuing riots, which rights groups say left at least 10 dead and hundreds detained, were the biggest of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s term, and the ex-general is now calling on the public to restore their
RSS