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Pro-Iran Camp in Fresh Baghdad Demo after Deadly Clash

Protesters denounce election results and call for a manual recount of the Oct. 10 parliamentary vote outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP)
Protesters denounce election results and call for a manual recount of the Oct. 10 parliamentary vote outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP)
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Pro-Iran Camp in Fresh Baghdad Demo after Deadly Clash

Protesters denounce election results and call for a manual recount of the Oct. 10 parliamentary vote outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP)
Protesters denounce election results and call for a manual recount of the Oct. 10 parliamentary vote outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP)

Hundreds of supporters of pro-Iranian factions staged a fresh demonstration Saturday in the Iraqi capital over last month’s election results, a day after at least one protester was killed in a clash with police.

The demonstrations come while Iraq’s numerous political parties negotiate to form coalitions and name a new prime minister after the October 10 elections.

Preliminary results saw the Conquest (Fatah) Alliance, the political arm of the pro-Iran multi-party Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), suffer a substantial decline in its parliamentary seats.

The group’s supporters have denounced the outcome as “fraud” and Iraqi political analyst Ihsan al-Shamari said the pro-PMF protests are aimed at strengthening its negotiating position during the coalition bargaining process.

In a calm atmosphere a day after deadly tensions, PMF supporters gathered at one of the four entrances to the high-security Green Zone, which is home to government buildings and the US embassy.

“No to America!”, “No to Fraud!” the demonstrators chanted, as security forces stood by in force.

The protesters had brought in tents and sanitary facilities, in a sign of a possible repeat of a sit-in that began on October 19.

Others burned a portrait of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, whom they called a “criminal”.

On Friday there were clashes with police when hundreds of PMF supporters rallied near the Green Zone to vent their fury over the election result.

Demonstrators threw projectiles and blocked access to the Green Zone before they were pushed back by police who fired in the air, a security source said, requesting anonymity.

Another security source said a protester died in hospital of his wounds, while the health ministry reported 125 injuries, most of them from the security forces.

A leader of the Hezbollah Brigades, one of PMF’s most powerful factions, told AFP on Friday that two demonstrators were killed.

On Saturday mourners in the city of Najaf carried two coffins of PMF supporters they said died in the Baghdad clashes.

According to preliminary tallies, the Fatah Alliance won around 15 of the 329 seats in parliament, down from 48 it held previously, which made it the second-largest bloc.

The big winner this time, with more than 70 seats according to the initial count, was the movement of influential cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Final election results are expected within weeks.

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UN Appeal for Aid to Support 10 Million Yemenis

 In Yemen around 3.3 million IDPs are living in family hosting arrangements and rental accommodation (UN)
 In Yemen around 3.3 million IDPs are living in family hosting arrangements and rental accommodation (UN)
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UN Appeal for Aid to Support 10 Million Yemenis

 In Yemen around 3.3 million IDPs are living in family hosting arrangements and rental accommodation (UN)
 In Yemen around 3.3 million IDPs are living in family hosting arrangements and rental accommodation (UN)

The United Nations and partners launched last week the 2025 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, seeking urgent humanitarian and protection assistance to more than 10 million Yemenis in need.
In its plan, the UN warned that more than half of the country’s population – 19.5 million people – needs humanitarian assistance and protection services.
The collapse of the Yemeni riyal, now trading at over 2,160 riyals per US dollar in the legitimate government-controlled areas, has significantly worsened living conditions for Yemenis and left authorities struggling to pay public sector salaries for the past four months.
Yemen’s financial crisis further worsened after the Houthi militia suspended oil exports, causing an electricity blackout in Aden, the country's temporary capital, for more than half a day.
In its Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, the UN appealed for $2.47 billion to provide urgent humanitarian and protection assistance to more than 19.5 million people in need.
Under the 2025 appeal, humanitarians aim to deliver life-saving assistance to 10.5 million of the most vulnerable people in need, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Julien Harneis, said.
Despite significant challenges, Harneis said 197 aid organizations reached more than 8 million people with life-saving assistance last year – two-thirds of which were local Yemeni organizations.
This was made possible by the sustained support of donors, who contributed more than $1.4 billion to the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan.
The Humanitarian Coordinator said much more is needed this year to reduce needs, achieve peace, revive the economy and build the resilience of communities through sustainable development activities.
He noted that climate shocks, increased regional tensions and chronic underfunding of critical humanitarian sectors are further worsening people’s vulnerability and suffering.
This year, more than 17 million people will experience acute food insecurity—almost half the country’s population—with 5 million expected to experience emergency levels of food insecurity.
Moreover, 13.6 million people face challenges to access a water source of sufficient quality to prevent diseases while 40% of Yemen's health facilities are partially functioning or completely out-of-service due to shortages in staff, funding, electricity, medicines and equipment, and infrastructure integrity.
The UN last year requested $2.7 billion for a humanitarian response plan, but received only meager pledges, causing a huge gap in meeting the needs of the targeted population.
Jamal Belfaqih, head of Yemen's Supreme Relief Committee, confirms the numbers of humanitarian needs declared by the United Nations, its agencies and international organizations.
However, Belfaqih said the appeal that agencies request fail to meet their efforts to secure funding.
Also, he said, the UN and its agencies face challenges to reach the targeted population due to a lack of information and demographic changes caused by internal displacement.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Belfaqih said the funds required from donors to finance the humanitarian response plan will probably not be obtained due to a poor promotion of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
“The relief organizations have not changed their response plan methods since 2015, despite their failure to meet the needs of the Yemenis and to end or reduce the humanitarian crisis,” he said.
In 2025, an estimated 19.5 million people across Yemen need humanitarian assistance and protection services – 1.3 million people more than last year.
An estimated 4.8 million people, most of whom are women and children, remain internally displaced, with repeated displacement trapping families in cycles of dependency on humanitarian assistance.
In a briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said people in Yemen continue to face a severe humanitarian and protection crisis.
Almost half of Yemen’s population – over 17 million people – is unable to meet their basic food needs.
The most marginalized, including women and girls, those displaced and communities such as the Muhamasheen, are the worst affected.
Msuya said almost half of all children under the age of 5 suffer from moderate to severe stunting caused by malnutrition, while cholera is at appalling levels.