Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr swarmed through Baghdad’s secure Green Zone on Monday, occupying the presidential palace and ultimately engaging in gun and grenade battles with Iraqi security forces and Iran-backed militia – but they also took time out for a bizarrely cheerful pool party in the sumptuous backyard of the palace.

Sadr prompted the Baghdad riot on Monday by shutting down his political party and announcing his disgusted withdrawal from Iraqi politics.

Hundreds of his Sadrist supporters, who had been camped in the Green Zone for weeks to protest government dysfunction, pulled down security barricades and stormed the Republican Palace, which serves as headquarters for various Iraqi officials, including caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

The protesters splashed merrily around, flashed victory signs, and waved Iraqi flags, even as gunfire began popping outside the palace.

 

Not only was the pool inviting in Baghdad’s triple-digit heat – IraqiNews reported a high temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, which is over 114 degrees Fahrenheit – but the pool was a favorite luxury of former dictator Saddam Hussein, so the Sadrists apparently felt they were sending a message of contempt for both Saddam’s brutal Baath Party and the U.S.-backed government that replaced it.

Meanwhile, government security forces were opening fire on the Sadrist protesters, reportedly killing at least 12 and injuring over 100. 

On Tuesday, the Sadrists fought back with heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, while security troops brought armored vehicles to the edge of the Green Zone. Iraqi health officials said the death toll rose to at least 30 plus 400 injuries, and they expected more fatalities would be reported.

The Iraqi government imposed quarantines on first Baghdad and then other cities, while Iran closed its border with Iraq, Kuwait told its citizens to leave the country, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shut down air travel. Turkey issued a travel warning for Iraq on Tuesday.

Supporters of Iraqi influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdraw from their protest site near the parliament building inside Baghdad’s Green Zone. (Ameer Al-Mohammedawi/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“The ongoing developments in Baghdad have taken a dangerous turn in terms of the stability, unity and security of the country. The stability and security of friendly and brotherly Iraq is of vital importance for Turkey. Therefore, we are concerned with the acts of violence spreading across the country,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

Sadr finally spoke up on Tuesday and ordered his supporters to withdraw from central Baghdad in a televised address.

“This is not a revolution any more, because it has lost its peaceful character. The spilling of Iraqi blood is forbidden,” he said.

The nationwide curfew was lifted after Sadr’s address, as his supporters began dismantling the Green Zone tent city they constructed over a month ago.