Thousands of Iraqi protesters staged rallies in parts of the country on Sunday after a leading anti-government activist was shot dead.
Ihab al-Wazni coordinated protests in Karbala during the wace of unrest that swept Iraq in 2019.
He was shot overnight outside his home by men on motorbikes using a gun equipped with a silencer. The attempt on his life was in many ways similar to another attack in December 2019, which he escaped narrowly because the assailants were aiming for Father al-Tai, another activist.
They were both key figures in the national protest movement that erupted against Iraqi government corruption and incompetence in October 2019.
Some 600 activists from the movement have been killed ever since, whether on the streets during rallies or targeted on their doorsteps.
Police in Karbala said they would “spare no effort” to find “the terrorists” behind Wazni’s killing.
