Demonstrators set fire to dozens of government buildings and offices belonging to the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias better known as Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary force across southern cities late Friday.
In Missan province, the headquarters of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the PMU militias, was torched and a leading commander of the group reportedly killed.
Wissam al-Alyawi was later pronounced dead by the group, after footage circulated online showing him writhing in an ambulance as a crowd of men tried to break into it.
Asaib chief Qais al-Khazaali was in Baghdad on Saturday for the funeral procession of Alyawi and his brother Issam, apparently killed in the same incident.
"His blood is on America and Israel’s hands, but I will take Dire Revenge - many times over," Khazaali told mourners, holding back tears as he stood next to their wailing mother.
"This blood is proof to all our people of the size of the conspiracy that is targeting us," he said.
Dozens of PMUs fighters were gathered in military fatigues for the procession in central Baghdad, just a few districts south of where protests were taking place in Tahrir (Liberation) Square.
Another paramilitary force, Saraya al-Salam, had also been spotted in Baghdad in recent days after their leader
Moqtada Tateral-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
threw his weight behind the demonstrations.
The Badr Organization, a powerful Iranian-backed gang whose offices were set alight in the southern city of Diwaniyah, also blamed Israel and the United States for Alyawi’s death.
"They don’t want a stable Iraq. They want to pull it into discord and chaos," said its head Hadi al-Ameri, who also attended the funeral.
And Harakat Nujaba, an Iraqi paramilitary faction close to Iran, warned protesters to stay peaceful. "Take a careful look, and let us be united," it said in an online statement.
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