Crisis Cell in Nasiriya amid Fears of Inter-Shiite Clash in Southern Iraq

Anti-government protesters clash with supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Nasiriya, Iraq November 27, 2020. (Reuters)
Anti-government protesters clash with supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Nasiriya, Iraq November 27, 2020. (Reuters)
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Crisis Cell in Nasiriya amid Fears of Inter-Shiite Clash in Southern Iraq

Anti-government protesters clash with supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Nasiriya, Iraq November 27, 2020. (Reuters)
Anti-government protesters clash with supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Nasiriya, Iraq November 27, 2020. (Reuters)

Tensions have been high in Iraq amid concerns over the eruption of an inter-Shiite conflict in central and southern provinces of the country.

The fears were heightened in wake of violent clashes that had erupted between supporters of the Sadrist movement, of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and anti-government protesters in the city of Nasiriya last week.

A government crisis cell arrived in the city in an attempt to defuse the situation. The cell was formed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to contain the tensions after some 100 people were killed and injured in last week’s clashes.

The cell is comprised of senior officials from the security agencies, including national security advisor Qassem al-Araji and head of national security Abdul Ghani al-Asadi.

Ahead of arriving in the city, Araji had tweeted that he will restore security and safety in the Dhi Qar province, where Nasiriya is located, and avert strife.

According to a statement from Kadhimi’s office, the cell will be tasked with “managing the affairs of the province and upholding security.” It has been granted vast privileges to carry out its mission.

Observers, however, were skeptical that the cell would succeed in containing the tensions in Dhi Qar, citing pervious government missions that had failed.

They noted the government’s failure to determine the fate of activist Sajjad al-Iraqi, who was kidnapped in September and whose whereabouts are still unknown in spite of Baghdad’s efforts.

Such failures have only fueled speculation that inter-Shiite clashes are imminent. Tensions and a state of “enmity” already prevail among popular powers that resent the state and factions that have compounded poverty in the province.

Tensions are also high with armed factions that want to “reclaim their previous glory” after anti-government protesters burned down most of their headquarters in southern provinces during the 2019 popular uprising.

Moreover, the protesters accused the Sadrist movement of seeking, through its force of arms, to disperse the remaining protest squares after it had succeeded in doing so in Baghdad’s Tahrir square.

The protesters have escalated their campaign against the movement and its leader, describing them as an integral part of the corrupt ruling authority that they blame for the dire state of affairs in Iraq.

Tensions have not been limited to Dhi Qar, but have spread to include other provinces, including Baghdad, where student marches were held on Sunday.

The students voiced their support for the protests in Nasiriya, condemning last week’s attack against them by the Sadrists. Similar marches were held in the Babel, al-Diwaniyah, Maysan and Waset provinces.

The Victory alliance, headed by former Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, expressed its concern over the developments in the South.

In a statement, it rejected “all political and social clashes”, warning that bloodshed will undermine security, stability and national unity.

It voiced its support of the right to hold peaceful rallies and the right of all political forces to express their positions on them without resorting to force.

It called on all sides to look forward to holding “transparent elections that would build a new ruling national authority that can take the country out of its crises.”



Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Israel Seizes Rafah in New Gaza 'Security Zone'

A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Israel Seizes Rafah in New Gaza 'Security Zone'

A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter on Thursday in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah, part of a newly announced "security zone" they intend to seize.

A day after declaring their intention to capture large swathes of the crowded enclave, Israeli force pushed into the city on Gaza's southern edge which had served as a last refuge for people fleeing other areas for much of the war, reported Reuters.

Gaza's health ministry reported at least 97 people killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, including at least 20 killed in an airstrike around dawn in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.

Rafah "is gone, it is being wiped out," a father of seven among the hundreds of thousands who had fled from Rafah to neighboring Khan Younis, told Reuters via a chat app.

"They are knocking down what is left standing of houses and property," said the man who declined to be identified for fear of repercussions.

After a strike killed several people in Khan Younis, Adel Abu Fakher was checking the damage to his tent.

"Is anything left for us? There’s nothing left for us. We’re being killed while asleep," he said.

The assault to capture Rafah is a major escalation in the war, which Israel restarted last month after effectively abandoning a ceasefire in place since January.

GAZANS FEAR PERMANENT DEPOPULATION

Israel has not spelled out its longterm aims for the security zone its troops are now seizing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu said troops were taking an area he called the "Morag Axis", a reference to an abandoned former Israeli settlement once located between Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the adjacent main southern city Khan Younis.

Gazans who had returned to homes in the ruins during the ceasefire have now been ordered to flee communities on the northern and southern edges of the strip.

They fear that Israel's intention is to depopulate those areas indefinitely, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people permanently homeless in one of the poorest and most crowded territories on earth. The security zone includes some of Gaza's last agricultural land and critical water infrastructure.

Since the first phase of the ceasefire expired at the start of March with no agreement to prolong it, Israel has imposed a total blockade on all goods reaching Gaza's 2.3 million residents, recreating what international organizations describe as a humanitarian catastrophe after weeks of relative calm.

Israel's stated goal since the start of the war has been the destruction of the Hamas group which ran Gaza for nearly two decades and led the attack on Israeli communities in October 2023 that precipitated the war.

But with no effort made to establish an alternative administration, Hamas-led police returned to the streets during the ceasefire. Fighters still hold 59 dead and living hostages which Israel says must be handed over to extend the truce; Hamas says it will free them only under a deal that ends the war.

Israeli leaders say they have been encouraged by signs of protest in Gaza against Hamas, with hundreds of people demonstrating in north Gaza's Beit Lahiya on Wednesday opposing the war and demanding Hamas quit power. Hamas calls the protesters collaborators and says Israel is behind them.

The war began with a Hamas attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023 with gunmen killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.

Rafah residents said most of the local population had followed Israel's order to leave, as Israeli strikes toppled buildings there. But a strike on the main road between Khan Younis and Rafah stopped most movement between the two cities.

Movement of people and traffic along the western coastal road near Morag was also limited by bombardment, said residents.

"Others stayed because they don't know where to go, or got fed up of being displaced several times. We are afraid they might be killed or at best detained," said Basem, a resident of Rafah who declined to give a second name.

Markets have emptied and prices for basic necessities have soared under Israel's total blockade of food, medicine and fuel.

The Palestinian Health Ministry, which is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but has nominal authority over hospitals in Gaza, said Gaza's entire healthcare system was at risk of collapse.