Death toll rises in Iraq as protesters defy curfew during night of violence
Citizens are fed up living with unemployment and poverty despite the country’s considerable oil wealth
A curfew was imposed in Baghdad on Thursday as violent protests in which at least 28 have been killed entered a third day.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi ordered the ban on movement across the capital starting at 5am local time to stem the popular demonstrations that have called for action against widespread unemployment, failing public services and state corruption.
The restrictions will remain in place indefinitely.
Twenty-eight people, including a police officer, have been killed, many in the city of Nasiriyah, about 350 kilometres south-east of Baghdad. Health authorities said more than 1,000 people were wounded.
The tension has been exacerbated by a near-total internet shutdown, the closure of government offices and at least one overnight explosion that hit the Green Zone, where some ministries and foreign embassies are located.
On Wednesday, hundreds of heavily armed security forces and riot police were stationed on Baghdad streets, blocking all intersections leading to a major central square.
The confrontations quickly spread to at least seven other provinces in the country, with an estimated 3,000 demonstrators taking to the streets in the southern city of Basra in a largely peaceful protest on Wednesday evening.
More than half of those killed in the past three days were in the southern city of Nasiriyah, where six protesters were shot dead and dozens wounded on Thursday alone.
Nearby Amarah has also suffered significant bloodshed, with medics and security sources reporting four protesters shot dead on Thursday.
Later in the day, two protesters and a police officer were killed in Diwaniyah, 150km south of Baghdad, where a curfew was subsequently imposed.
Rallies began on Tuesday in Baghdad but have since spread across the mainly Shiite south, including the provinces of Dhi Qar, Missan, Najaf, Basra, Wasit and Babylon.
Riot police in the capital have used water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds in an attempt to disperse protesters from the central Tahrir Square and other areas.
Into the night on Wednesday, marches from different parts
Iraqi protesters defied a curfew on Thursday, demanding change to a political system that has been in a state of dysfunction since 2003.
Members of the security forces fought with demonstrators, who took to the streets of Baghdad and other provinces this week to protest against a lack of basic services, unemployment and widespread corruption – grievances that led to repeated outbreaks of unrest across the country over the past few years.
At least 19 people have died since the start of the latest clashes, making them the deadliest protest in Iraq in more than a year.
“They [the protests] are more an expression of raw anger at the entire political system than a mobilisation for a specific set of demands,” said Fanar Haddad, an Iraq expert at the National University of Singapore.
Since assuming office last October, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi vowed to root out corruption and rebuild the country after its three-year war against ISIS.
But given the “structural and deeply entrenched nature of Iraq’s problems, it is difficult to see what the government can do in the short term beyond taking cosmetic measures,” Mr Haddad said.
What triggered the Baghdad protests? A lack of good government is central to Iraq’s problems. Transparency International ranks Iraq 168th out of 180 countries on its Corruption Perception Index.
Iraq suffered for decades under the rule of Saddam Hussein and UN sanctions, before the 2003 US-led invasion started years of civil war.
Despite the country’s oil wealth, millions of Iraqis live in appalling conditions.
Security has improved but damaged infrastructure has not been rebuilt and thousands of people are unemployed.
A series of political moves by the government sparked a nationwide outcry last week, especially the demotion of a popular general, Lt Gen Abdulwahab Al Saadi. Reasons for his demotion were never fully explained and some at the demonstrations were protesting over the commander’s removal.
Iraqis largely credit Lt Gen Al Saadi with leading the fight against ISIS.
The country is also increasingly caught in the middle of regional tensions between Washington and Tehran, which rose last year after the White House withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
What will the protests achieve? The protests can be seen as a way to pressure Mr Abdul Mahdi into confronting corruption within the state, Sarkwat Al Shamsi, an Iraqi member of parliament, told The National.
“His counter-corruption efforts have recently slowed down because of resistance from senior officials in his Cabinet,” he said.
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said the protests could pose a significant threat to the existing order in Iraq.
“[The protests are] clearly motivated by the outpouring of widespread disquiet about corruption, misgovernment and lack of jobs, with protesters increasingly calling for the downfall of the regime,” Mr Doyle said.
In response to the protest, Mr Abdul Mahdi promised jobs for graduates and instructed the oil ministry and other government bodies to include a 50 per cent quota for local workers in future contracts with foreign companies
However, the public is fed up with broken promises. Similar pledges were made by the previous government, yet little change emerged.
The deadly clashes are a reminder that street mobilisations remain an important factor in the country’s political scene, said Maria Fantappie, senior Iraq adviser at the International Crisis Group.
“The protests are not only about water or corruption – they are now an alternative means to affect Iraq’s politics, which is dominated by a few and has spun in circles since 2003,” she said.
Mr Haddad believes that diffusion of the country’s political and military power will make it difficult for the state to succeed in creating structural changes.
How long are the Baghdad protests likely to last? The response of the government and the security forces to the protests will determine their persistence.
“What is certain is that the continued use of lethal force and live ammunition, as we have started to witness, will only inflame the situation,” Mr Doyle said.
Conversely, the heavy handed crackdown could also scare protesters into staying home.
If tribal or factional armed groups get involved the situation could deteriorate.