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March 29
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The situation in Iraq, despite the curfew declared throughout the country, remains tense. In Baghdad's Green Zone—a well-fortified area where state institutions and foreign diplomatic missions are located—, fierce clashes continue between supporters of the influential Shiite imam Muqtada al-Sadr's movement and the Iraqi security forces.

According to the latest data, at least 20 people were killed and more than 300 people were injured during the armed clashes in the center of the Iraqi capital.

According to the received information, at least seven explosions rocked the center of Baghdad, several mortars exploded, and shots are fired from assault rifle. The US embassy in Iraq, which is located in the Green Zone, was hit by mortar fire.

Units of the Iraqi regular army were brought into the city, paramilitary leaders of the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) have entered the Green Zone to assist the federal security forces. Al Arabiya reported that two Iraqi soldiers were killed in the clashes.

In other parts of the country, the Sadrists did not disperse, and their sit-in continues near the administration building of Diyala Governorate in the east of the country. As reported by Al Arabiya, the Sadrists closed the entrance to the Umm Qasr Port in the south of the country. Gunshots are heard in Basra Governorate.

According to the Al Jazeera, the protesters have started to break into the regional parliament building in Karbala Governorate.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has announced Tuesday a non-working day.

A radical Shiite imam Muqtada al-Sadr, whose announcement of his retirement from Iraqi politics sparked a wave of protests, has announced a hunger strike until the violence stops. At the height of the protests in Baghdad, Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi appealed to him for help in restoring law and order in Iraq.

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