Iraq witnesses deadliest day since protests began in southern provinces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Protests calling for better public services have entered its second week in several provinces across southern Iraq as the government forces’ crackdown on demonstrators has left many people killed and wounded.

Kurdistan 24 correspondent Shwan Jabari, who is covering the demonstrations live from Basra, said two protesters were killed and a dozen others injured, including four from gunshot wounds, as Iraqi government forces extend a curfew imposed across the province.

He added that protesters in the al-Zubair district tried to storm a building belonging to one of the oil companies in the area. However, security forces responded to their attempts by protecting the facility. Jabari stated that several people were wounded as the guards fired live ammo to disperse the protests.

The Director of Health Department’s Communications in Missan said the governorate’s hospitals received 23 people who sustained different types of injuries, six of them from direct gunfire, as security forces tried to disperse them, al-Sumeriya reported.

In Muthana Province, confrontations between security forces and protesters who attempted to storm the governorate building killed three and wounded 50 others, a security source told Baghdad-based Shafaaq News outlet.

Footage circulating across social media show security forces using live bullets against demonstrators as violent protests in Iraq's Basra continue for the seventh consecutive day.

Protesters later stormed offices belonging to the Dawa, al-Fadhila, and al-Hikma political parties and set fire to the buildings, the source said.

Elsewhere, in Babil Province’s al-Qasim district, clashes with guards of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon Coalition’s office injured five protesters.

Meanwhile, in Dhi Qar Province, 19 protesters were wounded from different injuries with five of them in critical condition as security forces dispersed the demonstrations using live ammo, rubber bullets, and tear gas, a security source told Shafaaq.

The source added that protesters threw stones at security forces, wounding 27 members.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany