Iraq arrests five over lynching teenager in Baghdad

By Mohamed Walid

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraqi security forces arrested five people in connection with lynching a teenager in the capital Baghdad this week, according to the interior ministry on Sunday.

On Thursday, angry mob killed the teenager whom they accused of shooting protesters and hung his body by his ankles from a traffic light pole in Baghdad's Wathba Square.

Videos circulated on social media showed the mob dragging the body across the street.

"Security forces have arrested five suspects over the killing," ministry spokesman Khalid al-Mahna told the official Iraqi news agency.

A military spokesman said in earlier statements that the grisly killing took place after the teenager clashed with protesters for refusing to allow them to gather near his home.

Iraq has been roiled by mass protests since early October over poor living conditions and corruption, forcing Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi to resign.

According to Iraq's High Commission for Human Rights, at least 460 Iraqis have been killed and 17,000 have been injured since the protests began Oct. 1.