BASRA – At a seafood market in Basra – a port city renowned for its fish – vendors manned stalls chock full of produce for sale on Friday, the first day of Eid al-Fitr. But with the coronavirus pandemic holding steady, few customers braved the trip to the usually bustling market.

The quiet reflected an exceptionally reserved Eid across the city and the Muslim world at a time usually marked by joyful congregation.

"Before the holidays (Eid), we used to visit each other and in the early mornings we would eat the "al-Masmuta" fish (dried fish dish popular in southern Iraq)," market visitor Awad Hussein told AFP. "However, this year the pandemic left us with no joy at all and destroyed our happiness. Today, I went to the mosque to pray and I did not find anyone, there is absolutely nobody."

As COVID-19 cases began to taper off, authorities began lifting strict curfews, allowing infection rates rose once more – seeing Iraq in recent days record its highest daily case tolls so far. Over 4,600 cases of the virus have been recorded across the country since February, and Iraq's biggest cities of Baghdad and Basra have been the worst impacted.

The city's mood darkened further a fortnight ago, when at least one protester was killed when armed men shot at crowds calling for national political and socio-economic change. The lethal shooting led  to protests calling for the provincial governor to step down.

Rich in oil but burdened by rampant poverty, Basra is a frequent site of protest. A demonstration at a gas facility last Thursday over late salary payments saw dozens of foreign workers evacuated from the country.

Photos by Hussein Faleh / AFP