Injuries in Basra as police use batons to disperse protesters

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi security forces on Tuesday brandished truncheons and rubber hoses against hundreds of protesters who arrived at the entrance of an oil field in Basra Province criticizing high unemployment and poor public services while their land produces the majority of the country’s revenue.

Tuesday marks the ninth day of the demonstrations that started in Basra on July 8 before spreading to other provinces. So far, violence from the protests has caused hundreds of casualties with over 10 reportedly killed.

Protesters have also stormed government buildings and branches of various political parties.

Witnesses told Kurdistan 24 that about 300 demonstrators gathered at the entrance of the field run by Italian company Eni and chanted slogans demanding jobs and the fruits of their land.

“We, the people of Basra, hear about the Iraqi oil and its huge revenues, but we never enjoy its benefits,” 24-year-old protester Esam Jabbar told Reuters during the protests.

As the situation intensified at the Zubair field, police started beating protesters with their batons and hoses, while demonstrators responded by hurling rocks which led to the injury of an officer, Reuters reported.

“Strangers have decent jobs at our oilfields, and we don’t have the money to pay for a cigarette. That’s wrong and must be stopped,” Jabbar said, revealing that he too was unemployed.

The unemployment rate among Iraqis is officially at 10.8 percent. Most of the unemployed are youth as 60 percent of the country is under the age of 24.

The turbulence of the protests coincides with attempts to form a government after the contested May 12 parliamentary elections.

Iraq’s Electoral Commission is currently in the process of manually recounting ballot boxes against which parties had lodged complaints.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government claims it is working to expedite the process of forming “a committee to follow up on government procedures to implement rapid reforms to provide urgent solutions to the services and administrative issues” and “fight corruption,” all familiar pledges to the Iraqi populace.

Baghdad has been unable to solve power shortages in a country where summer temperatures often reach 50 degrees Celsius, leading thousands to take to the streets in protest in recent days.

On Monday, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity announced that they had failed to reach an energy agreement with the Iranian government, deciding, instead, to turn to Saudi Arabia for a deal.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany