Iraqi protest clashes leave three dead
Dozens injured, troops close off Baghdad streets after brief calm ends
BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live rounds during clashes with anti-government demonstrators Sunday night and on Monday morning in Baghdad, killing three and wounding dozens of protesters, officials said.
The clashes, which reignited last week after a brief lull, prompted authorities to close key streets and thoroughfares leading to the Iraqi capital’s center.
In Baghdad, the tear gas and live rounds were fired near Sinak Bridge and also the nearby Tayaran Square, which have been the scene of violence in recent days, medical and security officials said.
A gunshot killed one protester, while a second died after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister, medical officials said. A third later succumbed to his injuries, the officials said.
One medical official and an activist said the dead included Yousif Sattar, 21, a local journalist covering the protest movement.
A statement from the Baghdad Operations Command said 14 officers were wounded by a group of rock-throwing “inciters of violence ” while trying to secure the entrance to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest movement.
“Despite these actions our forces continued to exercise restraint and follow up on the security duties assigned to them,” said the statement.
A security official said at least nine arrests have been made since the National Security Council authorized security forces to arrest demonstrators seen blocking main thoroughfares and roundabouts.
The U.N. envoy to Iraq, meanwhile, urged Iraqi political elites to resume pushing for meaningful changes in government, and for protests to remain peaceful.
“Any steps taken so far to address the people’s concerns will remain hollow, if they are not completed,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in a statement issued by the U.N. “Violent suppression of peaceful protesters is intolerable and must be avoided at all costs.”
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, protesters blocked the highway linking the city to the southern oil-rich province of Basra. At least six protesters were wounded when an unknown gunmen fired at them from a speeding car, a medical official said.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
On Sunday, protesters in Baghdad and southern Iraq burned tires, blocking main streets. Clashes in Baghdad wounded at least 27 people. Iraqi activists gave the government a week’s deadline to act on their demands for sweeping political reforms or said they would increase the pressure with new demonstrations.
The uprising began on Oct. 1 when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to decry rampant government corruption, poor public services and a scarcity of jobs. Protesters are demanding an end to Iraq’s sectarian political system, alongside early elections and the stepping aside of its ruling elite.
In December, pressure from demonstrations led Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, to withdraw support for the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi, prompting the prime minister’s resignation.
Later that month, lawmakers passed a key new electoral law that would give voters more say in who’s elected to office.
But bickering between rival political factions has set back talks over the selection of a new premier. Abdul-Mahdi’s appointment was the product of a provisional agreement between rival parliamentary blocs led by the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and another led by Hadi al-Ameri.
In addition, public attention to the anti-government movement has been largely diverted since a Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Since the protests first began in October, at least 500 have died under fire from security forces.