At least 5 protesters killed in Iraq clashes

BAGHDAD — Anti-government protesters crossed a major bridge in Baghdad on Monday, approaching the prime minister’s office and the headquarters of Iraq’s state-run TV, as security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas, killing at least five demonstrators and wounding dozens.

The protesters hurled rocks and set tires and dumpsters ablaze, sending clouds of black smoke into the air. Security forces flooded into the area to protect government buildings, and gunfire echoed through the streets.

Dozens of motorized rickshaws raced back and forth, ferrying the wounded to first aid stations at the main protest site in Tahrir Square.

For days, the protesters have been trying to cross the Tigris River to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered. Security forces have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to push them back from barricades on the Jumhuriya and Sanak bridges, but they managed to break through on the Ahrar Bridge farther north.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have demonstrated in central Baghdad and across mostly Shiite Muslim southern Iraq since Oct. 25, calling for the overthrow of the government and sweeping political change. The protests are fueled by anger at widespread corruption, high unemployment and poor public services.

Security forces have killed more than 260 people in two waves of protests since early October.

The latest clashes came a day after Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called on the protesters to reopen streets and for life to return to normal. His office is just outside the Green Zone.

Police and hospital officials said that at least five demonstrators and a member of the security forces were killed and that 60 people were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The clashes continued into the night, and security forces installed a concrete barrier on the Ahrar Bridge to keep protesters out.

On Sunday night, Iraqi security forces shot and killed three protesters and wounded 19 in dispersing a violent demonstration outside the Iranian Consulate in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, police officials said. Seven policemen were also wounded, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The protesters have increasingly directed their anger at Iran, which has close ties to the government, Shiite political factions and paramilitary groups.

During the violence in Karbala, dozens of Iraqi protesters set tires ablaze. They scaled the concrete barriers ringing the consulate as others lobbed firebombs over the walls.