Seven dead, dozens injured as anti-government protests in Iraq turn violent
At least seven people died and dozens were injured on Wednesday in the second day of violent protests to rock cities across Iraq.
Security forces in Baghdad and elsewhere fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse anti-government demonstrators demanding jobs, improved services and an end to corruption.
The protests are the most serious challenge yet to Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi's nearly year-old government.
Earlier, two others died and hundreds were wounded on Tuesday as demonstrations kicked off.
On Wednesday, hundreds of heavily-armed security forces and riot police were deployed. The fortified central Green Zone - which hosts government offices and foreign embassies - was sealed off, just months after its celebrated reopening to the public. It been closed to most Iraqis since the 2003 invasion.
Residents said authorities also shut down social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.
But groups of protesters continued to take to the streets, some of them calling for the fall of the government.
The protests, organized on social media, began peacefully on Tuesday, driven by economic woes. They soon turned violent after security forces fought back demonstrators with water cannons and live ammunition, and protesters responded by setting fire to tires and bins. Bursts of heavy gunfire could be heard intermittently.
Although most of the fatalities are among protesters, security and medical officials said the deaths include a police officer and a 10-year-old girl who was killed when she was hit by a car speeding away from a checkpoint.
The violence suggests the war-weary country could be facing a new round of political instability. Iraq has been caught in the middle of U.S.-Iran tensions, putting an additional strain on an already weak government in Baghdad, which hosts thousands of U.S. troops and powerful paramilitary forces allied with Iran.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad called for restraint from all sides. "The right to demonstrate peacefully is a fundamental right in all democracies, but there is no place for violence in demonstrations from any side," it posted on Twitter.
Mr Abdul-Mahdi held an emergency national security meeting Wednesday. His office later said the meeting denounced the violence that accompanied the protests and said measures will be taken to protect citizens and public property and that the government will spare no effort to fulfill the demands of the protesters.
