Iraqis call for Maliki to be held accountable for 1,700 student deaths

Thousands of demonstrators demanded former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki be held responsible for the deaths of more than 1,700 students, reported Al-Quds.

Protests were held by supporters of Shia cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr, to mark the third anniversary of the students’ deaths at the hands of Daesh fighters. The demonstration was held in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.

Calls were made to charge Al-Maliki as he was in power at the time the murders took place.

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Daesh fighters killed 1,700 students at close range on the banks of the Tigris River, and begun throwing dead bodies in the river, according to a video published by the group.

Last year, the Iraqi government announced that the bodies of 1,000 victims had been found in the area of the Presidential palaces in Tikrit.