Three killed in Baghdad street clashes

Iraq: Social media sites shut down

Three protesters have been killed and 82 wounded amid gunfire and clashes in Baghdad, raising the number of overall deaths in two days of protests to five, Iraqi officials said.

A security official and a medical official said the deaths occurred in the Tayyaran and al-Khilani squares in central Baghdad when security forces opened fire at protesters.

The deaths come after two more protesters were killed on Tuesday.

Security forces fired live ammunition and used tear gas yesterday to disperse demonstrators in the capital, after violent confrontations between protesters and police a day earlier, officials said.

Protests on Tuesday had left two dead – one in Baghdad and another in the city of Nasiriyah – and more than 200 wounded.

Yesterday, hundreds of heavily armed security forces and riot police deployed on Baghdad streets, blocking all junctions leading to a major central square to prevent larger protests.

Parked armoured personnel carriers and SUVs stood guard and by mid-afternoon, residents said authorities had shut down social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Despite the massive security dragnet, groups of protesters continued to take to the streets, some of them calling for toppling the government.

Thick black smoke hung over the city as demonstrators set fire to tyres and bins, while bursts of gunfire could be heard intermittently.

The confrontations were some of the worst between protesters and security forces in Baghdad, signalling that the war-weary country could be facing a new round of political instability.

The protests, organised on social media, started in Tahrir Square on Tuesday, initially driven by economy woes.