2 killed, dozens injured in protests in Iraq capital

At least two people were killed and dozens injured in protests that erupted today near Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, according to a medical source.

An Iraqi security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said the police used force to disperse protesters who entered the Green Zone that houses key government buildings and foreign embassies.

Despite heavy security deployment around the Green Zone, the protesters blocked key bridges connecting the diplomatic enclave to Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad.

“The police used water cannons to disperse the protesters,” the police source told Anadolu Agency.

In the Iraqi provinces of Basra and Thi Qar, protesters gathered in public squares and in front of government buildings. They also held sit-ins.

Iraq’s top Shia cleric Ali Al-Sistani, for his part, warned against plunging the country into violence and chaos during protests in Baghdad and southern provinces.

READ: Iraqis store food and fuel ahead of Friday’s protests

This came in a statement read by his representative Abdul Mahdi Karbalai during Friday prayers in the southern city of Karbala.

Al-Sistani called on demonstrators and security forces to “strictly adhere to the peacefulness of the demonstrations and not to allow violence, riots and vandalism.”

He also called for an independent judicial investigation into the violence during the protests in the country earlier this month which left around 149 people dead.

Iraq has been rocked by protests for months with residents calling on the government to tackle corruption and end the mismanagement of public funds.

According to the World Bank figures, youth unemployment is around 25 per cent in Iraq, while the country ranks as the 12th most corrupt state in the world.

READ: Iraqi PM warns against violence on eve on planned anti-government protests