ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Tishreen (October) movement on Saturday held fresh anti-government protests in the capital city of Baghdad, three years after the movement’s first demonstrations which toppled the government at the time. The Tishreen protests which were held in Baghdad in October 2019 and lasted for several months demanded an end to the governance system which has been in place since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, an end to corruption, better basic services, and employment. The protesters were met with violence and repression from the security forces and pro-Iran militia groups that left at least 600 dead and thousands wounded. The protests toppled the government of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, ignited reforms to the electoral law, and forced the October 10, 2021 parliamentary election. The movement resumed demonstrations on Saturday, with supporters slamming the government for failing to meet their demands. The protests were supposed to begin at 10am but hundreds of people gathered in the iconic Tahrir square earlier in the day. A large number of security forces have been deployed to Baghdad’s Green Zone whose concrete walls have been removed by protests several times this year. One protester told Rudaw that the politicians have failed to meet their demands. “They have done nothing while the youth are jobless. No one has expressed support for our demands. We as the youth demand employment,” he said. Supporters of Iraqi powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were also spotted in Saturday’s demonstrations.
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