Iraqi authorities undertook a major operation led by the army to remove the remnants of the protest movement that kicked off on October 2019 in the epicentres of Tahrir Square and Al-Jumhuriyah bridge.
Tahrir Square and its massive Freedom Monument was at the heart of the movement that brought together hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, paralysing the capital and southern Iraq for months.
The move sparked some emotional appeals on social media not to clear the square, while others at the site refused to speak to media amid a heavy police deployment.
Young people, who spearheaded the unprecedented revolt and saw many peers among the nearly 600 dead and 30,000 wounded in clashes with security forces, were in shock.
