"This is an Iraqi revolution": 5 killed in clashes as powerful Shiite cleric Sadr quits politics

WARNING: Video contains violent content that may not be suitable to all viewers. Discretion is advised.

A hugely influential Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced he would resign from Iraqi politics on Monday and his angry followers stormed the government palace in response, sparking fears that violence could erupt in a country already beset by its worst political crisis in years. At least five were killed and 19 people were injured, police and medical workers said.

Hundreds pulled down the cement barriers outside the Republican Palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

Iraq’s military swiftly announced a city-wide curfew in the hopes of calming rising tensions and heading off the possibility of clashes. It called on the cleric’s supporters to withdraw immediately from the heavily fortified government zone and to practice self-restraint “to prevent clashes or the spilling of Iraqi blood,” according to a statement.

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