clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Clashes kill 22 protesters in Iraq’s south

  • [load_disqus_count2]

November 28, 2019 at 9:30 pm

A picture taken on November 9, 2019, shows a Iraq security forces standing guard outside a government building during ongoing anti-government demonstrations in the southern city of Basra. – Seven protesters were killed in Iraq as security forces cleared protest sites in Baghdad and Basra after political leaders agreed to stand by the embattled government by any means. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)

At least 22 Iraqi protesters were killed and 157 others injured in clashes with security forces in the country’s southern city of Nassiriya, according to a medical source, Anadolu Agency.

The source, who works for the Health Department of Dhi Qar province, told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity that “hospitals in the province have so far recorded the death of 22 demonstrators and the injury of 157 others.”

According to the source, the casualties took place during clashes between protesters and security forces on al-Nasr and al-Zeytun bridges in Nassiriya.

READ: Iraq protests become bloody

The Iraqi security forces clashed with protesters early Thursday in an attempt to control the two bridges that have been closed since last Wednesday, said a security source earlier to Anadolu Agency.

Iraq has been rocked by mass protests since early October against poor living conditions and corruption. Protesters’ demands later spiraled into calls for dissolving the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

According to Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights, at least 348 Iraqis have been killed and 15,000 have been injured since protests began Oct. 1.

[load_disqus_count]
[load_disqus]