5 marzo 1991 anni - Uprising in Karbala

Descrizione:

Some of the opposition groups had already distributed pamphlets throughout the local population, feeding anti-Saddam sentiment to the people. It was also reported that a number of these opposition groups consisted of former regular Iraqi Army soldiers who had served in Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. Earlier that day, soldiers returning from the front arrived in Karbala.

The revolt began at 2:30 PM when youths began riding through the streets with weapons, attacking government buildings and loyalist soldiers. This action provoked the population to come out of their homes with light arms and knives, known as "white weapons," to join in the attack. Such weapons became supplemented with heavier weapons captured from Baath Party forces. The Holy Endowments administration building was the first to be sacked, followed by several others. The rebels also stormed the al-Husseini hospital and took over their wards. Many of the holy Shia shrines immediately became the main headquarters for the insurgency, the main two being the Shrines of Husayn ibn Ali and Al-Abbas ibn Ali.

Some of the local Baathist officials and top security agents, including the chief of police and the deputy governor, were killed in brutal ways since they did not retreat in time. Many of their bodies were left lying in their streets and often burned. On the loudspeakers from the Shia Shrines, insurgents called for prisoners to be brought to the Shrine of Abbas for execution. By morning, the city was under complete rebel control.

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