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Iraqi forces shoot three dead in southern city as protests flare: police, medics

11 November 2019 07:36 (UTC +04:00)

Iraqi forces shot three anti-government protesters dead in the southern city of Nassiriya on Sunday, police and medics said, adding to scores killed in weeks of unrest that have shaken the war-weary country out of relative stability it had enjoyed since the defeat of Islamic State, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Protesters had gathered on a bridge in the city and security forces shot live ammunition to disperse them, the sources said. More than 100 other people were wounded in clashes in Nassiriya, they said.

Security forces also fired tear gas at demonstrators in Baghdad injuring more than 20 people, a day after they pushed protests back toward one main square in the Iraqi capital. One person died in hospital from wounds sustained the previous day in the same area, police and medics said.

The violence shattered a day of relative calm. Unrest erupted in Baghdad on Oct. 1 with protests over lack of jobs and services that spread across the capital and much of southern Iraq.