Iraqi protesters shut main ports company in Basra

Iraqi demonstrators carry flags and an image of Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Husaini al-Sistani, during ongoing anti-government protests in the southern city of Basra on 1 November 2019. [HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP – Getty Images]

Iraqi protesters blocked access to the main ports company in the southern Basra province on Wednesday, according to a local security source, Anadolu reports.

“Demonstrators shut the gates of the General Company for Ports of Iraq in central Basra,” the source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

On Tuesday, angry protesters blocked main roads to oilfields in Basra and prevented employees from going to work.

Iraq has been hit by waves of mass protests since early October over poor living conditions and corruption, forcing Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi to resign.

According to Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights, at least 496 Iraqis have been killed and 17,000 have been injured since the protests began Oct. 1.

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