ERBIL — Additional security forces have been deployed to the streets of capital Baghdad as the supporters of Shia militias threaten to stage massive protests.
The supporters of Iran-backed Fatah Alliance and other militias, who have performed very low in the last Sunday’s parliamentary elections, have threatened to take to the streets and protest the results of the elections.
A security source told Iraqi media that new deployments are focused on the vicinity of the Green Zone, where the top Iraqi institutions, embassies of many western countries are located.
The Shia militia supporters soon after the announcement of the results took to the streets in Baghdad, Basra, Diwaniyah, and several other major cities.
Iraqi security forces on Monday closed all the entrance gates of the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad after supporters of Fatah Alliance, led by Hadi al-Ameri, announced protests near the area in the afternoon.
The biggest winner of the election in Iraq was the Sadrist Movement which has won 73 seats. In the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) emerged victorious with 33 seats, more than double of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) which takes the second place in Kurdistan.
Soon after the election, Sadr said the militias operating outside the control of the state, should be dissolved. This has concerned the Hashd al-Shaabi militia groups who fear losing influence on Iraq’s political landscape if they lose arms.