ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A ninth person was killed on Friday in nearly two weeks of anti-government protests in southern Iraq.
“A civilian around 20 years old was shot dead,” a medical source in al-Diwaniya, al-Qadisiyah province told AFP.
Protesters had gathered outside the headquarters of the Iranian-backed Badr organization.
Two people were wounded when police pushed back the crowd after demonstrators started throwing stones, Reuters reported.
Earlier figures released by the Ministry of Health are eight people have been killed.
Tens more, from both the protesters and security forces, have been injured.
Amnesty International reported that security forces are using unnecessary force under the cover of a government-imposed internet blackout.
"We are closely monitoring the escalating situation across southern Iraq and are extremely worried by reports that security forces are beating, arbitrarily detaining and even opening fire on peaceful protesters," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a report released on Thursday.
"Deliberately disabling the internet is a sinister restriction to the right to freedom of expression and strongly indicates that the authorities have something to hide," she added.
"We fear this blackout is deliberately designed to give carte blanche to the security forces to repress peaceful activists without being recorded and held accountable."
Security forces have used tear gas, water cannons, and live fire to break up protests that have raged across southern Iraq for over two and a half weeks.
Suffering under high unemployment and lack of water and electricity, angry protesters say they have had enough of government corruption and politicians’ failure to serve the people.
"Our demands are people’s demands,” one protester told Rudaw. “We want drastic solutions. We want to change the government. It has been 15 years, and there is no employment, no services."
“We ask for freedom of the Iraqi nation from the political parties. Religious clerics can run the Iraqi government. Abadi has broken the heart of the people. The protesters ask for their rights,” said another.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has formed a crisis cell to respond to protesters’ demands, pledging to finish infrastructure projects and boost job training. But it may be too little too late.
Some 60,000 people applied for 10,000 new jobs in Basra. The discovery of piles of applications in the trash angered the people.
As large crowds amassed in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square – the largest demonstration in the capital so far – Abadi visited a power plant and a water pumping station as part of efforts to improve government services.
“A civilian around 20 years old was shot dead,” a medical source in al-Diwaniya, al-Qadisiyah province told AFP.
Protesters had gathered outside the headquarters of the Iranian-backed Badr organization.
Two people were wounded when police pushed back the crowd after demonstrators started throwing stones, Reuters reported.
Earlier figures released by the Ministry of Health are eight people have been killed.
Tens more, from both the protesters and security forces, have been injured.
Amnesty International reported that security forces are using unnecessary force under the cover of a government-imposed internet blackout.
"We are closely monitoring the escalating situation across southern Iraq and are extremely worried by reports that security forces are beating, arbitrarily detaining and even opening fire on peaceful protesters," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a report released on Thursday.
"Deliberately disabling the internet is a sinister restriction to the right to freedom of expression and strongly indicates that the authorities have something to hide," she added.
"We fear this blackout is deliberately designed to give carte blanche to the security forces to repress peaceful activists without being recorded and held accountable."
Security forces have used tear gas, water cannons, and live fire to break up protests that have raged across southern Iraq for over two and a half weeks.
Suffering under high unemployment and lack of water and electricity, angry protesters say they have had enough of government corruption and politicians’ failure to serve the people.
"Our demands are people’s demands,” one protester told Rudaw. “We want drastic solutions. We want to change the government. It has been 15 years, and there is no employment, no services."
“We ask for freedom of the Iraqi nation from the political parties. Religious clerics can run the Iraqi government. Abadi has broken the heart of the people. The protesters ask for their rights,” said another.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has formed a crisis cell to respond to protesters’ demands, pledging to finish infrastructure projects and boost job training. But it may be too little too late.
Some 60,000 people applied for 10,000 new jobs in Basra. The discovery of piles of applications in the trash angered the people.
As large crowds amassed in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square – the largest demonstration in the capital so far – Abadi visited a power plant and a water pumping station as part of efforts to improve government services.
Updated at 10:40 pm
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