Mob lynches Iraqi youth accused of attacking protesters

BAGHDAD - Demonstrators in Iraq lynched a teenager accused of attacking a protest encampment and killing six people in Baghdad on Thursday, police and witnesses said, in an attack that threatened to tarnish the protest movement's broadly non-violent image.

Police said a dispute between a 17-year-old male - who was armed with a gun - and protesters culminated with the body of the youth being strung from a traffic light in Baghdad's Wathba Square. 

Wathba square is located near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest movement, and has been the scene of recent violence. At least 31 protesters were wounded the previous day when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them from the area.

The incident came after a string of mysterious violent incidents perpetrated by unknown groups that have put protesters on edge, eroding the faith of many in the ability of state security forces to protect them.

Last Friday, 25 protesters were killed when unknown gunmen in pickup trucks fired live ammunition in Khilani Square. The incident occurred as mysterious knife attacks and abductions targeting protesters in Tahrir continued. Protesters largely blame Iran-backed militia groups for the assaults on protesters.

Powerful pro-Iran militia leader Qais al-Khazali - who was recently targeted by US sanctions - denounced the "chaos" he has warned of since protests began.

"How long will this chaos and lawlessness continue, these weak security forces and proliferation of weapons and dirty militias," he asked on Twitter.

Protesters reject violence

Sources said the 17-year-old, who was wanted on drug-related charges, was running from security forces and fired live rounds first killing two shop owners and then four protesters near Baghdad's Wathba Square.

Earlier on Thursday, police said protesters, some of whom have accused police of not protecting them from "saboteurs", set fire to the nearby house of the young man.

Video streamed live online showed security forces withdrawing before a crowd dragged the victim along the ground while people kicked him. His body, dressed only in underpants, was then strung up by the feet from a traffic light.

The corpse was later removed and taken to a forensic morgue, witnesses said. The morgue confirmed receiving a body.

The brutal episode could radically change the situation for a protest movement that has claimed pacifism in the face of violence in which 460 people have been killed and 25,000 injured, mostly protesters.

A statement signed by "the protesters of Tahrir" shared online denounced "a Machiavellian plan aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the peaceful protesters".

“We can't allow the image of our pure revolution to be distorted, so we declare that we are innocent as peaceful demonstrators to what happened this morning in Wathba Square," the statement said.

As images emerged online, a Twitter account close to Moqtada Sadr addressed the Shiite cleric's unarmed "blue helmets", who deployed to protect protesters after unidentified gunmen attacked them last week.

"If within 48 hours, the terrorists responsible are not identified, the blue helmets will have to withdraw from all the places where protesters assemble," it wrote.