ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Iraqi prime minister has asked protesters to postpone their weekly Friday demonstration so that security forces can focus on the ongoing battle to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State (ISIS). “All our security forces are preoccupied with liberating Fallujah and nearby areas, and imposing pressure on them in Baghdad and other provinces to protect the demonstrations will affect this issue,” Haider al-Abadi said when visiting Fallujah Operation Command on Thursday. Anti-government protesters, mainly supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have staged weekly protests on Friday calling for political reform and an end to corruption. Last Friday, protests turned deadly with three protesters and one journalist killed after security forces opened fire with live rounds and tear gas. Extra security forces are deployed in Baghdad, usually around the Green Zone and other central areas where protesters gather. Some 22,000 Iraqi joint forces are participating in the battle to retake Fallujah, which has been in ISIS hands since January 2014.
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