ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – It was dark and crowded outside the governorate building in Iraq’s city of Nasiriya, Dhi Qar province when Emad, 26, joined hundreds of protesters chanting anti-government slogans on Tuesday night.
It wasn’t long before security forces rushed the crowd and detained 26 people – including Emad – and bundled them off to the local Balda police station.
Emad, an unemployed graduate, has been participating in Iraq’s week of unrest, which has shaken the capital Baghdad and several southern provinces.
Almost 100 people have been killed and up to 4,000 wounded in clashes with security forces as young Iraqis, angered by high unemployment, corruption, and a lack of basic infrastructure, seized public squares and blocked major roads.
Some of the bloodiest battles of the nationwide protests have taken place in Nasiriya.
While in custody, Emad said the police “started to beat and humiliate us, which left many protesters injured”.
Among the detainees were several children under the age of 15, Emad said. To secure their release, they were all forced to sign an official pledge saying they would not protest again.
The next day, Emad picked up his camera and returned to the protest, which had resumed outside the governorate building. Many of those detained alongside him the previous day were also back, chanting the same anti-government slogans.
“I had to prove to them that their prisons and violence will not stop me demanding my rights,” Emad said.
Qais, 29, also joined the protests in Nasiriya on Friday, frustrated by the lack of job opportunities.
He was outside the governorate building when his friend, Musa’ab, was shot in the chest.
“I was with Musa’ab when suddenly the security forces opened fires on us,” Qais told Rudaw English on Saturday from a local hospital where his friend was being treated.
“We were all running to hide, but then I saw Musa’ab and four other protesters on the ground and blood was gushing out of their bodies.”
Iraq’s security forces are composed of dozens of armed militias, which often act independently or under the radar of official command.
Emad says he witnessed five protesters shot dead by security forces outside the governorate building on Wednesday and a further six killed outside the offices of the Badr Organization, when gunmen of the Saraya al-Khorisani paramilitia opened fire.
“Saraya al-Khorisani killed most of the protesters in Nasiriya,” Emad said. Live ammunition has been used every day since the protests began.
The protesters torched both the governorate building and the Badr office on Wednesday.
Emad said the Saraya al-Khorisani gunmen were using ammunition which caused more damage than regular rounds – potentially hollow-point bullets which expand on impact.
“The bullet which the Saraya al-Khorisani was using was a unique one, as the bullet was exploding as it entered your body,” Emad said. “The majority of the protesters were martyred by those bullets.”
Several protesters were shot in the head or leg by unidentified snipers firing from rooftops, he said.
The protesters in Nasiriya are no longer demanding action on jobs, corruption, and public services, Emad says. They are now calling for the fall of the government.
Editor’s note: Given the unpredictable state of security in Iraq at the present time, the names of several sources mentioned in this report have been changed for their safety.
