Iraq ‘Abusively Using’ Serbian, Bulgarian Tear Gas Grenades

Amnesty International has called on the Iraqi government to stop the abusive use of tear gas grenades manufactured in Serbia and Bulgaria for combat, after an investigation found they caused the deaths of at least five protesters in as many days.

"All the evidence points to Iraqi security forces deploying these military-grade grenades against protesters in Baghdad, apparently aiming for their heads or bodies at point-blank range," Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International, said in a press release on Thursday.

"This has had devastating results, in multiple cases piercing the victims' skulls, resulting in gruesome wounds and death after the grenades embed inside their heads," Maalouf added.

A Reuters report from October 30 said at least two people were killed and 175 wounded in Baghdad after Iraqi security forces launched tear gas canisters at protesters trying to enter the heavily fortified Green Zone.

The cause of death in both cases was tear gas canisters launched directly at the heads of protesters, sources told Reuters.

In its press release on Thursday, Amnesty said the organisation's Digital Verification Corps had geolocated and analyzed video evidence from near Baghdad's Tahrir Square documenting the fatalities and injuries and had "identified the types of tear gas grenades being used as two variants from Bulgaria and Serbia that are modelled on military grenades and are up to 10 times as heavy as standard tear gas canisters, resulting in horrific injuries and death when fired directly at protesters".

According to the Amnesty, the two models of grenade responsible for these injuries are: Serbian 40mm M99s, manufactured by Balkan Novotech, and 40mm LV CS grenades, likely manufactured by the...

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