Baghdad: A protester struck in the face by a tear gas cannister died in Baghdad on Friday as Iraqi security forces sought to repel demonstrators protesting at corruption and economic hardship, police and medical sources said.
The authorities have struggled to address protesters’ grievances since sometimes violent unrest erupted in Baghdad on October 1, spreading to southern cities. Demonstrators blame corrupt officials and political elites for failing to improve their lives.
At least one protester has died and more than 200 were wounded in the latest disturbances.
The unrest has posed the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi since he took office just one year ago. Despite promising reforms and a broad cabinet reshuffle, the premier has so far struggled to address protesters’ roiling discontent.
Also read: The Roots of Iraqi Discontent and How to Remedy It
At least 3,000 protesters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya on Friday broke into the provincial government building and set it on fire, police sources said.
Meanwhile, six protesters were wounded in the southern city of Amara in Maysan province, when guards protecting the local office of Shi’ite militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haq opened fired, two security sources said.
The protesters had been trying to set the office on fire, the sources said.