PM orders probe into Basra killings
Authorities brace for a fresh round of violent protests after security forces killed six
Iraqi security forces sprayed tear gas and fired into the air yesterday to try to disperse thousands of protesters in the southern city of Basra, in some of the worst unrest in the region for months.
The deaths of six protesters in clashes with security forces on Tuesday added to anger in the oil hub over poor government services. Security and health sources said that 22 members of the security forces had been injured in Tuesday’s unrest, some by a hand grenade.
The spasm of violence has raised calls for solidarity protests throughout the country as activists seek to revive a campaign that began in early July over spotty electricity, undrinkable water, unemployment and frustrations with a political system that has failed to name a new government nearly four months since national elections were held.
The United Nations envoy to Iraq called yesterday for “calm” in Basra. The protests have often turned violent, with protesters damaging and burning government offices and attacking security forces with stones and Molotov cocktails. Water shortages along with a lingering electricity crisis have fuelled the protesters’ rage and demonstrations.
In a statement, the UN’s special representative in Iraq, Jan Kubis, called on “the authorities to avoid using disproportionate, lethal force against the demonstrators”. He urged authorities to “investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the outbreak of violence”. He also called on the government in Baghdad “to do its utmost to respond to the people’s rightful demands of clean water and electricity supplies as a matter of urgency.”
In his weekly press conference in Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said he had ordered “no real bullets to be fired, in the direction of protesters or in the air”. He also ordered an investigation into the violent protests, accusing “those who pour oil on the fire” of endangering the city.