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Shots fired as deadly Iraq protests resume despite curfew
BAGHDAD, Oct 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iraqi security forces fired live rounds
on Thursday to break up protests held for a third day in Baghdad despite an
open-ended curfew in effect since dawn.
Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi ordered the ban on movements across the
capital starting at 5:00 am (0200 GMT) to stem the popular demonstrations
over widespread unemployment and state corruption.
The chaotic protests and ensuing clashes with riot police in Baghdad and
several southern cities have left 12 protesters and one police officer dead.
On Thursday morning, riot police fired in the air to disperse several
dozen protesters gathered in the emblematic Tahrir Square in defiance of the
curfew, an AFP photographer said.
“We slept here so the police don’t take the place,” one demonstrator told
AFP before being pushed back en masse by police officers into adjacent
sidestreets.
Tensions have been exacerbated by a near-total internet blackout, the
closure of government offices in Baghdad and calls by firebrand cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr for “a general strike.”
Before dawn twin explosions hit the Green Zone, where some ministries and
embassies are located and which was struck by two rockets last week, a
security source in the area told AFP.
The apparent attack came hours after security forces sealed off the Green
Zone “until further notice” just a few months after it was reopened to the
public, fearing angry protesters would swarm it.
– Death toll rises –
Overnight, two protesters were killed in the southern city of Kut after
they tried to storm a local government office, medics and security sources
told AFP.
Another two demonstrators died further south in Nasiriyah, which has so
far seen the deadliest protests with a total of eight protesters and one
police officer killed.
And two have died in clashes in Baghdad, bringing the nationwide toll in
the protests since Tuesday to 13 dead and more than 400 wounded, according to
health authorities. Riot police in the capital have used water cannons, tear
gas, rubber bullets and live rounds in an attempt to force protesters out of
Tahrir and other areas in Baghdad.
MORE/FI/ 1349 hrs
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Into the night on Wednesday, marches from different parts of the capital
attempted to converge on the square, whose name means “liberation” in Arabic.
But with internet access virtually shut, demonstrators have struggled to
communicate with each other or post footage of the latest clashes.
In the holy city of Najaf and in Nasiriyah on Wednesday, security forces
fired on protesters and curfews were also declared.
The protests appear to be largely spontaneous so far, with angry crowds
carrying Iraqi flags and shunning any involvement by the country’s main
political players.
Many traditional figures have expressed their support for the movement,
with Sadr urging “peaceful demonstrations.”
He was behind the last round of major protests in Baghdad in 2016, when
his supporters stormed the Green Zone, but his involvement appears much more
limited this time.
– ‘De-escalation needed’ –
On Wednesday night, the top United Nations official in Iraq, Jeanine
Hennis-Plasschaert, met with some protesters in Baghdad to call for “direct
dialogue” between them and government officials.
“The ability to preserve the right to protest is a sign of political and
democratic maturity. Moreover, the use of force only fuels the anger,” she
said in a statement.
“De-escalation is urgently needed.”
The violence drew a slew of criticism from Iraqi leaders including
President Barham Saleh, and parliament has demanded an investigation into the
incidents.
The protests follow months of simmering frustration over rampant power
cuts, water shortages and state corruption.
But anger over staggering rates of youth unemployment, which is around 25
percent or double the adult rate according to the World Bank, appears to have
set off this particular round of demonstrations.
“We want jobs and better public services. We’ve been demanding them for
years and the government has never responded,” said Abdallah Walid, a 27-
year-old protester.
Demonstrations over similar issues engulfed the southern city of Basra
last summer and effectively ended previous premier Haider al-Abadi’s chances
of a second term.
Abdel Mahdi now faces a similar challenge just weeks before his government
marks a full year in power.
He called for the curfew after convening his national security council for
an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
Abdel Mahdi has also blamed the violence on “aggressors who…
deliberately created casualties,” a statement met with rage by protesters.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1340 hrs