Iraq Army Opens Fire on Sunni Protest March in Fallujah

January 25, 2013 from Al Jazeera English

At least five people have been killed and up to 40 injured in clashes in Fallujah after Iraqi troops opened fire on Sunni protesters and worshippers, officials have said. Friday's incident is the most violent yet since Sunni demonstrators began taking to the streets in late December to challenge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shia-led government. Al Jazeera's Caroline Malone reports.

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Fallujah

Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly 69 kilometers west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries. The city grew from a small town in 1947 to a population of ... Explore this topic

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam; its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhlu-s-Sunnati wa-l-Jamāʿah, "people of the tradition of Muhammad and the consensus of the Ummah" or ʾAhlu-s-Sunnah. For short, in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites... Explore this topic

Nouri al-Maliki

Nuri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki, also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Pr... Explore this topic

Iraq

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia encompassing the Mesopotamian alluvial plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the... Explore this topic

Iraqi Army

Les Forces armées irakiennes sont la force armée de l'Irak. Celles-ci ont participé à plusieurs conflits de haute intensité et insurrections depuis l'indépendance de ce pays, a été dissoute le 23 mai 2003 par Paul Bremer, à la suite de l'Opération libération de l'Irak, ce qui ... Explore this topic

Shia Islam

The Shia represent the largest schismatic sect in Islam, accounting for 10-20% of the world's normative body of Muslims. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatul ʻAlī, meaning "followers", "faction", or "par... Explore this topic

Shooting

Shooting is the act or process of firing firearms or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets, and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman. Shooting can take place in a shooting range ... Explore this topic

Throwing stones

Throwing stones is a method of violent protest often employed against armed security forces by unarmed youths. Although rocks are used as improvised weapons in large disturbances of many types, their use as a form of protest most often appears where any response by security fo... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Sectarianism

Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political mo... Explore this topic

Also See

Fallujah

Sunni Islam

Nouri al-Maliki