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Although the , their destination following the shooting is well known to the police department in the city. 

The footage is very clear. From security camera recordings it is easy to trace  after they left the crime scene and drove down the streets of Basra before entering the courtyard of a building.

"It's the former presidential palace of Saddam Hussein, and today, it's a headquarters that belongs to the Hashd al-Shaabi," an officer from the Basra police department, who wished to remain anonymous, told °®Âþµº. 

The , or Popular Mobilisation Forces, is a paramilitary group that enjoys close ties with the Iranian government. "It's all on footage, but when the investigators reported to their superiors that they had tracked the killers all the way to the palace, they were ordered to abandon their research. They were threatened to do so," the police officer claimed.

The fact that the Hashd al-Shaabi is allegedly behind the killing of Riham comes as no surprise to many in the city. For months now, there has been a power struggle in southern Iraq between political and military forces affiliated to Iran and a  that took to the streets to oppose the corruption they associate with those factions. 

Silencing dissident voices

The killing of activists is seen as a way for  to silence dissident voices that might propose an alternative to their hegemony. "[Before], the killings were not that frequent, but now, [these groups] do not want to lose the upper hand in terms of control of society," an activist from Basra who chose to remain anonymous told °®Âþµº.

"They want to keep the monopoly on public opinion. Their main targets are journalists and activists because they are considered the main threat to their ideology at this level"

Darem Kadhim, an activist and close friend of the late activist Riham Yaqoub, has the same views concerning the recent surge of murders. "These  are increasing [...]. They take place during and after protests. [Until now], the judiciary system has not taken any action against these killings." Kadhim was also close to Tahseen Osama, another activist murdered in the same week as Riham Yaqoub. 

"Assassinations were almost non-existent until the demonstrations last October. After that, a phenomenon emerged and our office recorded eight cases of assassinations alongside seven failed attempts. The month of August alone witnessed six cases," Mahdi Al-Tamimi, the director of the Office of United Nations Human Rights Commission (OHCHR) in Basra, said.

The power struggle with Baghdad

Activists on the ground in Basra are defenceless in the wake of this assassination campaign. Although the central government has pledged to locate the murderers and bring them to justice, local institutions are all seemingly working against the victims. 

"The chiefs of the local intelligence department (Basra police force Col-General Rasheed Flayeh) and the military forces (Basra military operation centre Col-General Qassim Nazzal) were affiliated to the Badr Organisation, which is part of the pro-Iran axis," an officer from Basra police department told °®Âþµº. In order to prevent this conflict of interest, the recently elected Prime Minister , who leads a transitional government, has replaced them with more reliable personnel.  

Nonetheless, the struggle is far from over. "Since the change in local security leadership, they have ordered more CCTV cameras to better monitor the streets and to maintain security during protests, but the governor of Basra, , prevented the deal from succeeding," explained the policeman. 

Political analyst Mohammad Al-Jabri provided some insight on the sensitivity of surveillance in Basra. "This major camera surveillance project has been disrupted for years. If properly used, it would have exposed and prevented many assassinations and crimes in the city. Incidents taking place in the governorate are never solved, like the assassination of journalists Ahmed Abdul-Samad and Safaa Ghali, even though their assassination took place near the Basra police headquarters."  

In a last attempt to regain security control in Basra, the prime minister ordered the deployment of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) in the city. The CTS is seen as a loyal force to the head of state and answers directly to him. Yet, this push into the stronghold of the Hashd al-Shaabi was seen as a provocation. "The arrival of the CTS brings the risk of igniting fire to the whole country," the police officer said.

While political actors  in the tormented province, the friends and relatives of Tahseen and Riham are still mourning their recently buried loved ones. "Riham was a distinguished woman; her club was a place for women to gather. After every exercise, girls and women were encouraged to study and other personal activities," Noor, a friend of Riham, recalls. "She used to say that it is natural for a woman to be a worker, have education and that her goal in life should not be only to get married and have children". 

"We are shocked. [Riham] worked hard to help people around her. We call on the security forces and the government to reveal who carried out the assassination and of course put an end to this suffering," Dr. Yassin Habib, the uncle of Riham Yaqoub, told °®Âþµº.