Rocket hits Iraqi cleric's home following deadly Baghdad attack, no casualties reported

A rocket fired from a drone targeted the home of populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on December 7, lawmakers from his Saeroon party said. However, the drone attack caused no casualties. 

Deadly attack by armed men near Baghdad’s main protest site

A deadly attack by armed men near Baghdad’s main protest site on Friday night left at least 23 dead, police and medical sources said. "At least 130 people suffered major and minor injuries during the gun attack and the stabbings," police and medical sources added. According to international media, the armed men attacked the anti-government protesters who were protesting at the Sinak bridge near Tahrir Square. During the attack, three police officers also lost their lives. 

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The mass demonstration was attended by thousands of people who had gathered at the central square and at the three bridges which lead to the city’s Green Zone, Iraq’s political center. The protest has been going on for the past two months and the protesters demand a new government.

READ: US Military Base In Iraq Hit By Five Rockets, No Casualties Reported

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the top Shi’ite Muslim cleric in Iraq said on December 6 that the election of the New Prime Minister of Iraq should not be based on foreign interference. The statement by the top cleric comes after incumbent Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned from his position last week. 

READ: Iraq: People Continue To Protest On The Issue Of Poverty In World's Most Oil-rich Country

The Prime Minister of Iraq Adel Abdul Mahdi announced on November 29 that he would submit his resignation letter to the Parliament after the government faced two months of violent widespread protests. His resignation came after the country's senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric forced the lawmakers to reconsider their support for a government that has been facing weeks of deadly anti-establishment unrest. The violence sparked in Southern Iraq killed at least 21 people. One protestor was killed in the central Baghdad as demonstrations continued which included scores of people sitting in at Tahrir Square in the Iraqi capital.

READ: US Urges Iraq To Probe 'abhorrent' Killings Of Protesters