![A mourner holds up a poster showing assassinated Iraqi anti-government activist Ihab al-Wazni during his funeral at the Imam Hussein Shrine in the central holy shrine city of Karbala on May 9, 2021 [MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232788989-scaled-e1620636565522.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Unknown gunmen assassinated prominent Iraqi activist, Ihab Al-Wazni, in front of his home in the southern city of Karbala.
Home surveillance cameras captured the moments of his death. The footage showed Al-Wazni being shot to death by two gunmen who were on a motorcycle. He was parking his car in front of his home in the predominantly Shia city. Al-Wazni was a vocal opponent of Iran's influence in Iraq and Tehran-linked armed groups in the country.
The Iraqi Security Media Cell said in a statement that the Karbala police force immediately formed a specialised team to investigate the crime and is mobilising all efforts to locate the perpetrators.
Protests erupted in the city following Al-Wazni's funeral, with demonstrators calling for Iranian forces to be forced out of Iran and setting fire to the Iranian consulate in the area.
Protesters burn down the perimeter wall of the the Iranian Consulate. Activist's killing sets off demonstration in Iraq's.#Karbala #Iraq#Baghdad #مقاطعون
#لاتعلنوا_الØداد_اعلنوا_الثوره#مقاطعون #ايهاب_الوزني pic.twitter.com/1rY0gB9NS8— Nafisa Abdel (@NafisaAbdel) May 10, 2021
The Iraqi government says nearly 560 Iraqi activists have been assassinated during anti-government protests which erupted in October 2019.
READ: Gunmen kill police officer, wound 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
Spotted an error on this page? Let us know
