Authorities acknowledge using “excessive force" in Sadr City

Shafaq News/ The Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces , Adel Abdul Mahdi has ordered on Monday to withdraw all army units from Sadr City eastern Baghdad and replace them with federal police.

A statement issued by the security media cell said that Abdul Mahdi's decision came "as a result of the events in Sadr City last night.

"There has been an excessive use of force and out of defined rules of clashes," the statement said.

"The procedures of accounting the officers and commanders who committed these wrongdoings started through immediate investigative councils," the statement said.

"We assure all security forces of full compliance with the rules of clashes for the protection of demonstrators and fight against riots," the statement said.

 Clashes took place in Sadr City in Baghdad, on Sunday evening, where a medical source told Shafaq News on Monday that the number of those clashes rose to 15 dead and 40 wounded among the demonstrators.