WATCH: Thousands gather in Baghdad as Iraqi protests spread

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Thousands gathered in the Iraqi capital on Friday, joining demonstrations in several central and southern provinces against a chronic lack of services, unemployment, and a low standard of living.

"Iraq was liberated 15 years ago. Services continue to go down and the government has failed to provide even the basic level of them," an angered protester told Kurdistan 24 during a live broadcast.

This failure, he said, was "due to an unlimited amount of corruption in its institutions."

Security forces used tear gas to disperse crowds in the capital while demonstrations continued in many other areas of Iraq, including Babil, Dhi Qar, Diwaniya, and Maysan. They started nearly two weeks ago in the oil-rich province of Basra, to the south of the country.

"Every time a new government is formed, they gave so many promises about serving people, but in reality, we see nothing," another Baghdad protester said.

So far, dozens of people have been killed and unknown numbers wounded due to clashes between protesters and security forces.

Amnesty International has charged that Iraqi authorities have intentionally cut off internet access shortly before security forces have attacked, and in some cases killed, protesters.

In a report released on Friday, the human rights watchdog said, “Deliberately disabling the internet is a sinister restriction to the right to freedom of expression and strongly indicates that the authorities have something to hide."

Iraq remains high on Transparency International’s list of national levels of corruption as widespread fraud and mismanagement in state institutions are some of the most significant challenges facing the country since the fall of the former regime.

According to the group's 2017 Corruption Index, Iraq ranks 166, the tenth most corrupt country out of a total of 176.

Editing by John J. Catherine