LIVE: Tense calm returns to Baghdad after sit-ins cleared

The US embassy in Iraq has criticised unrest in the country and said it was "disturbing" that Iraqi institutions were not being allowed to operate.

"Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty should not be put at risk. Now is the time for dialogue to resolve differences, not through confrontation," the embassy said in a statement on Monday.

It added that while Iraqis have the right to protest, they should "respect the institutions and property of the Iraqi government, which belong to and serve the Iraqi people and should be allowed to function”.

Masoud Barzani, the former president of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, has urged all parties "not to resort to the language of weapons and violence in resolving conflicts".

"We are following with concern the recent events and developments in Iraq," he said in a statement, as reported by the Iraqi News Agency, INA.

Barzani also called on all sides to "think about solutions that bring good to the Iraqi people and take into consideration the general interest of the people and the country".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is "following with concern" the situation in Iraq, and called on all parties for "calm and restraint" and to "take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation and avoid any violence”.

"The Secretary-General strongly urges all parties and actors to rise above their differences and to engage, without further delay, in a peaceful and inclusive dialogue on a constructive way forward," he said in a statement.

The European Union also urged all stakeholders to "exercise utmost restraint".

"The European Union reiterates its unwavering support to Iraq’s security, stability and sovereignty," the body said.

The Kuwaiti Embassy in Iraq urged its citizens in the country to evacuate, Kuwait's state news agency, Kuna, reported late on Monday.

The embassy also asked those wishing to travel to Iraq to postpone their plans.

Developments in Baghdad appear to be getting somewhat quieter. It’s now 4am in Iraq, and the AFP and Reuters news agencies are putting the death toll somewhere between 15 and 20 people.

Here’s a wrap of tonight’s events:

Baghdad rocked by deadly clashes as Sadrist protests spread to south Iraq

Caught up in the mayhem, of course, are normal Iraqis praying for a moment's stability.

In Baghdad, lawyer Marwa Abdel Ridha is in despair.

"I spent the past hours crying. Anyone with a conscience would be saddened by the killing of these young men,” she told MEE.

"How is it everyone's fault to be used as fuel for battles in which they have no control? I don't know when we will rest and when this torment will end."

Ali Ahmed, a pharmacist also in the Iraqi capital, said: "Iraqis are used to wars and fighting. What I feel now is more than fear. It is a real bitterness."

"Why all this fighting? Everyone is corrupt and innocent people are the victims and they pay the price every time. Isn't there a sane person to stop this bleeding?" he added.

Monday's events broke out in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified neighbourhood in the heart of Baghdad.

But it wasn't long until the discord spread south to Shia-majority provinces where both Sadr and his Iranian-backed rivals enjoy huge support.

The headquarters of many pro-Iran armed factions, including Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataeb Hezbollah in Baghdad, Diwaniyah and Basra were torched, targeted with mortar bombs or simply shot at.

According to local media, Sadr's supporters also stormed the provincial government building in the southern Dhi Qar governorate. They also reportedly did the same in the Wasit and Maysan governorates - graffiti adorning the Maysan governorate building appeared to read "closed by the order of the people".

In Basra, Sadrist demonstrators burned tyres and set up roadblocks. They also stormed government buildings in other southern cities, such as Nasiriyah and Hillah.

Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has over the past two decades been one of the most powerful political forces in Iraq. Originally the leader of armed forces opposed to the US-led occupation, he has established himself as a nationalist and opponent of the establishment, despite many of his followers having held government positions.

Sadr's father, Mohammed Sadiq, and father-in-law, Mohammed Baqir, were both highly influential clerics, and their faces regularly adorn placards and banners of Sadrists and other religious and political factions in Iraq. Both were killed by Saddam Hussein and are regarded as martyrs and advocates of the poor by many Shia.

Sadr himself has built a following among much of the socially conservative poor and working-class of Iraq, as well as with those opposed to the influence of Iran and the US. His base of support in Baghdad is in the sprawling Sadr City, named after his relatives, but he commands widespread influence throughout the country.

His Sairoon party came first in October's parliamentary elections (though most Iraqis did not vote), and afterwards he attempted to push for the formation of what he called a "majority government" along with Sunni and Kurdish allies.

However, he was unable to secure enough support among other parliamentarians to secure the formation of a government, and in June, in a supposed attempt to break the deadlock, Sadr ordered his MPs to withdraw from the assembly.

Sadr and his supporters then demanded the dissolution of the parliament and the announcement of new elections. When that wasn’t forthcoming, things began heating up even more, and protests began.

Read more about Sadr and the other major players in Iraq’s political crisis here:

Who are the main players in Iraq's political crisis?

A commander of Sadr's Saraya al-Salam armed faction told MEE that Sadrist protesters are trapped in crossfire in the Green Zone.

"We have hundreds of protesters trapped inside. These people did not leave their positions and were caught between the fire from both sides," he told MEE's Suadad al-Salhy.

"We are trying to secure them. We will not stop until our opponents surrender. They refuse to surrender and neither will we."

The commander told MEE that Saraya al-Salam's "tactical regiment", which includes some of the faction's hardiest fighters, is currently engaged with fighting in the Green Zone.

He said the forces currently responding to them from inside the Green Zone are “the forces of former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, in addition to some forces associated with the Popular Mobilisation Security Directorate”.

The Special Division responsible for securing the Green Zone was founded by Maliki. Most of its fighters are from Maliki's birthplace Tuwairej, a town 20km east of Karbala, and so the Sadrists accuse its fighters of loyalty to the Iran-backed Dawa Party leader.

There is a lot of confusion over who is confronting who in Baghdad, particularly around the Green Zone.

Some have reported that Iraq's Special Division forces, who are responsible for protecting the Green Zone, have been clashing with Sadr's Saraya al-Salam.

But the Sadrists claim they are being attacked by fighters belonging to the Hashd al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella group. Many Iran-backed factions that are Sadr's chief rivals are part of the Hashd, though technically so is Saraya al-Salam.

Military sources told Middle East Eye's Suadad al-Salhy, who is reporting from Baghdad, that the Hashd al-Shaabi (also known as Popular Mobilisation) has not started fighting yet.

Hashd fighters are currently confined to the Green Zone and have not received any reinforcements due to the blockage of bridges and roads, the sources said.

The military sources said they expect developments to worsen in the coming hours after the arrival of the Hashd's backup forces from outside Baghdad.

Intense fire - from automatic rifles, vehicle-mounted guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars - has targeted the Green Zone for hours.

It is not known how many causalties there are, but several federal police officers have been wounded, including the federal police chief. 

The people of the Qadisiyah complex, which is part of the Green Zone, where many families of MPs and senior officials live, are trapped inside and are demanding a temporary ceasefire to allow them to leave.

The Iraqi armed forces declared a curfew in Baghdad on Monday, later extending it to the entire country.

However, footage circulating online shows convoys of vehicles belonging to Saraya al-Salam, Sadr's armed faction, charging towards central Baghdad.

Saraya fighters are stationed along the road extending from al-Jumhuriya Bridge into the fortified Green Zone, where the vast majority of governmental buildings and diplomatic missions are located.

On Monday morning Muqtada al-Sadr announced his resignation from politics, and since then his supporters have demonstrated wildly in Baghdad and across Iraq’s southern provinces.

Since then, supporters of Sadr’s opponents, the Coordination Framework alliance of Iran-backed Shia parties, have reportedly confronted the Sadrists with violent results. Here’s what we know so far:

• Medical sources told AFP 15 people had been killed, all Sadrists. Other agencies have put the toll lower.
• At least seven shells have fallen on Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. It is unclear who fired them.
• Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the security forces not to fire live rounds at protesters.
• Sadrists briefly occupied government buildings in the Green Zone, though were cleared by security forces.
• Sadr said he has gone on hunger strike until calm is restored.
• Offices belonging to Sadr’s movement and Iran-backed factions have been attacked across Iraq.
• Gunfire and explosions can be heard continuously in Baghdad.
• A countrywide curfew is being enforced.