Sending Baghdad's armored division to Basra to suppress demands for autonomy, or chaos?
Following the escalation of unrest and clashes between Shiite tribes in Basra, an armored division and special forces of the Iraqi police entered the city on the orders of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to restore security and disarm armed gangs and tribes. Meanwhile, a news source in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region links the unrest in Basra to demands for autonomy for Basra province.
Saeed Basma Salmi, a member of the Basra Provincial Council, told the Kurdistan "Rudaw" news network that the Iraqi central government ignores the requests of the people of Basra to benefit from service benefits and develop infrastructure, including water supply and electricity distribution networks and other services, and does not pay attention to these demands.
He says that the province is one of the most deprived regions of Iraq, despite producing more than 1 million barrels of oil per day. He also says that the central government has been warned many times that if it does not take these demands seriously, the people of this province will pursue other ways and means to meet their demands. “Saeed Basma Salmi” announces that members of the Basra Provincial Council will stand with the people to achieve these demands.
Meanwhile, another member of the Basra provincial council, Muhammad Othman, told Rudaw News Network that last year, the request of Basra representatives to establish autonomy in Basra, similar to the autonomous region of Kurdistan, was met with strong opposition from Baghdad. He stated that the rejection of this request, which is in accordance with the Iraqi constitution, and the central government's lack of attention to the deprivations and demands of the people of this province, has led to a sharp increase in dissatisfaction in Basra.
The deployment of military and security forces of the central Iraqi government to Basra was ostensibly done to maintain security, deal with armed groups in the city, and prevent inter-tribal (Shiite) clashes.
On this issue, two reasons are put forward for the unrest in Basra. One is official and governmental, the other is from the Kurds who have experienced autonomy. One considers the unrest in Basra to be caused by gang warfare and chaos. The other considers the popular uprising to achieve autonomy to be the main cause of these unrest.
