Bloody protests across Iraq, 30 dead
\nOnline
\nBAGHDAD
\nThousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Iraq s capital and across the south on Thursday, the third day of mass rallies that have left 30 dead.
\nDefying curfews, tear gas and live rounds, they gathered by truckfuls to vent their anger against corruption, unemployment and poor services in the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi.
\nAbdel Mahdi has made few public appearances since protests kicked off, preferring to communicate by written statements even as state media claimed he met with unnammed protest leaders.
\nAs dusk fell in Baghdad, crowds swelled around the capital s oil and industry ministry, with demonstrators pledging to march to the capital s emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square.
\n\u201cWe ll keep going until the government falls,\u201d pledged 22-year-old Ali, an unemployed university graduate.
\n\u201cI ve got nothing but 250 lira (20 US cents) in my pocket while government officials have millions,\u201d he told AFP.
\nMost demotnstrators carried the Iraqi tricolour while others brandished flags bearing the name of Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed s grandson and a revered figure in Shiite Islam.
\nRiot police and army troops fired at the ground from automatic weapons mounted on military vehicles, the bullets ricocheting into the crowd.
\nWounded protesters piled into small tuk-tuks to reach hospitals.
\n\u201cWhy do the police shoot at Iraqis like them? They suffer like us — they should help and protect us,\u201d said protester Abu Jaafar.
\nThe three days of demonstrations have left 30 people dead, including two police officers, and over 1,000 people have been wounded.
\nMore than half of those killed in the last three days have been in the southern city of Nasiriyah, where seven protesters were shot dead and dozens wounded on Thursday alone.
\nNearby Amarah has also seen significant bloodshed, with medics and security sources reporting four protesters shot dead on Thursday.
\nTwo protesters and a police officer were killed in Diwaniyah and one demonstrator was killed in Al-Hilla, also south of Baghdad.
\nProtests began Tuesday in Baghdad but have since spread across the mainly Shiite south, including the provinces of Dhi Qar, Missan, Najaf, Basra, Wasit and Babylon.
\nSeveral cities have imposed curfews, but protesters have flooded the streets regardless.
\nThe Kurdish northern regions and Sunni western provinces have remained relatively calm.
\nThe grievances echo those of mass demonstrations in Iraq s south a little over a year ago which were prompted by a severe water shortage that caused a widespread health crisis.
\nSince then, southern provinces have accused the central government of failing to address profound infrastructural gaps, chief among them youth unemployment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bloody protests across Iraq, 30 dead Online BAGHDAD Thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Iraq s capital and across the south on Thursday, the third day of mass rallies that have left 30 dead. Defying curfews, tear gas and live rounds, they gathered by truckfuls to vent their anger against corruption, unemployment and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n