Iraqi national security adviser: Conspirators worked against country’s stability

There are those who wanted to conspire against the stability and unity of Iraq, National Security Adviser and Chairman of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias, Faleh al-Fayad, said in a press conference on Monday.

He added that the armed forces are "far from any political disputes in Iraq."

"We will work to bring down corruption and fight attempts to overthrow the Iraqi state," al-Fayad said.

"There are some infiltrators inside these demonstrations, and the investigation will determine the cause behind the killing of protestors," he added.

The Iraqi military admitted on Monday that “excessive force” was used in a district of the capital overnight where a mass protest led to clashes that medics and security forces said left 13 people dead, AFP reported.

"Excessive force outside the rules of engagement was used and we have begun to hold accountable those commanding officers who carried out these wrong acts," the military said in a statement.

Clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters killed at least 15 people in an eastern Baghdad neighbourhood overnight, police and medics said on Monday, raising the toll from nearly a week of violence to at least 110 people, Reuters had reported.