42 die in renewed anti-govt protest in Iraq, curfew imposed
BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces sought to clamp down on protests in Baghdad and across the south on Saturday, a day after dozens died in a bloody resumption of anti-government rallies.
A Parliamentary session scheduled on Saturday afternoon to discuss the renewed protests was cancelled after it failed to reach a quorum.
Since anti-government rallies first erupted on October 1, nearly 200 people have died and thousands were wounded in Baghdad and across the country’s Shiite-majority south in violence condemned worldwide.
Almost a quarter of them, 42, succumbed on Friday alone from live rounds, tear gas canisters or while torching government buildings or offices belonging to powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary factions in several southern cities.
Tensions remained high across several cities there on Saturday, with security forces cutting off roads and imposing strict curfews.
The storming of provincial headquarters, parliamentarians’ workspaces or Hashed offices marks a new phase in the southern rallies but there have been no such incidents so far in the capital.
In Baghdad, a few hundred protesters dug in around the emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square on Saturday morning despite efforts by riot police to clear them with tear gas.
Oil-rich Iraq is OPEC’s second-highest producer — but one in five people live below the poverty line and youth unemployment sits at 25 percent, according to the World Bank.
Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi has suggested a laundry list of measures, including hiring drives, increased pensions and a cabinet reshuffle.
New Education and Health Ministers were approved by Parliament in a session earlier this month, the only time it was able to reach a quorum since protests began. But protesters seemed unimpressed. About 60 per cent of Iraq’s 40-million-strong population is under the age of 25.