Muhammed al-Inzi, an Iraqi activist who has been protesting in different cities since October 2019 said that the "chaos" began as security forces attempted to storm the city’s main square, where protesters have been camped out since early May.
Protesters in responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
"The protests are ongoing in many parts of Iraq, but the number of protesters has decreased due to fear of coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...and being kidnapped and assassinated," Inzi said from the city, situated 100 kilometers south of Baghdad.
Inzi revealed that several protesters were maimed in the festivities, but couldn’t specify how many were hurt.
Videos shared on the messaging app Telegram showed protesters throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Humvees patrolling near the square.
According to Inzi, protesters have a simple demand: justice for death of the hundreds of protesters killed since October.