BAGHDAD, Oct 02 (AFP): Iraqi security forces fired live rounds on Wednesday to disperse new protests in the capital, despite calls from top leaders for restraint a day after two demonstrators were killed.
The protests are the first significant popular challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, who formed his government a year ago this month and who controversially blamed the violence on "aggressors" among the protesters.
On Wednesday, the iconic Tahrir Square in Baghdad where hundreds of protesters had gathered the previous day was sealed off by security forces, with some demonstrators gathering around the edges.
Smaller crowds took to the streets in Al-Shaab in north Baghdad and Zaafaraniya in the south, an AFP correspondent reported, with riot police attempting to disperse them with tear gas and live rounds fired in the air.
Like the previous day, protesters railed against state corruption, failing public services and unemployment.
Iraqi cops fire to disperse protests
FE Team | Published: October 02, 2019 23:41:29
Iraqi cops fire to disperse protests
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