Mob kills teen gunman in Baghdad … hangs corpse

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BAGHDAD, Dec 12, (Agencies): An angry mob killed a 16-year-old and strung up the corpse by its feet from a traffic pole after the teen shot and killed six people Thursday, including four anti-government protesters, Iraqi officials said.

Dozens of people pointed their cellphones at the body dangling high above them in a central Baghdad square. Videos circulating on social media showed the young man being beaten and dragged across the street.

The violence underscored the growing fears and suspicions swirling around the 8-week-old protest movement, which engulfed Iraq on Oct 1 when thousands took to the streets to decry government corruption, poor services and scarcity of jobs.

A string of mysterious acts of bloodshed by unknown groups has put anti-government protesters on edge and eroded their faith in the ability of state security forces to protect them. Last Friday, 25 protesters were killed when gunmen in pickup trucks opened fire in Baghdad’s Khilani Square. That same week, mysterious knife attacks targeted over a dozen anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square, the hub of the protest movement. In recent days, abductions and assassinations of high-profile civil activists have stoked paranoia among demonstrators.

Protesters largely blame Iran-backed militias for the attacks and see the violence as a campaign to instill fear and weaken their peaceful movement. Thursday’s bloodshed began when the young gunman opened fire in Baghdad’s Wathba Square, killing two shop owners and four protesters. Security officials said the teen was wanted by police on drug-related charges and was running from security forces at the time. An enraged mob beat the young man to death, security and health officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. At least eight people were wounded, the officials said. Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called those who killed the teen “terrorists” and warned that if they were not identified within 48 hours, he would order his militia to leave the square. Members of Saraya Salam, or Peace Brigades, are deployed in the square to protect protesters. Protesters refer to them as the “blue hats.”

The killing of the teenager was condemned by the wider protest movement in Tahrir Square, which said in a statement that the perpetrators were not part of their peaceful demonstrations. “We can’t allow the image of our pure revolution to be distorted, so we declare that we are innocent as peaceful demonstrators to what happened this morning in Wathba Square,” the statement said.

The killing of a suspected gunman accused of firing at a gathering of demonstrators in central Baghdad has provoked backlash and condemnation, while warning that the matter may harm the peaceful movement in the country, local media said on Thursday. Local media carried a statement attributed to Al-Tahrir Square demonstrators, where the country’s protests are based, condemning the incident and affirming the peacefulness of the movement.

The statement pointed out that protesters came out peacefully for the sake of reform and extradition of criminals, noting that what happened in Wathba Square is a crime condemned by demonstrators, humanity, religions and punishable by law.

The gunman was a resident of the same square and was under the influence of drugs, who shot peaceful protesters and killed many without any interference from the security forces, which prompted some protesters to attack his house, showing total rejection by peaceful demonstrators, it stressed.

Protestors demand the relevant institutions such as security forces and the judiciary, to hold the thieves and criminals accountable, and said they were peaceful protestors who are acquitted of what happened this morning in Wathba Square, the statement said. Deliberate killings, abduction and arbitrary detention are among abuses that continue against Iraqi anti-government demonstrators by unknown groups, according to a UN report released Wednesday.

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