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Deaths and Injuries Mount as Iraqi Police and Soldiers Fire on Protesters

HeadlineOct 03, 2019

In Iraq, at least 18 people are dead, and more than 800 others were wounded, after police and soldiers reacted with violence to anti-government protests across the country. Some of the deaths and injuries came in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, as police fired tear gas and live ammunition into a crowd of hundreds. Police also opened fire on protesters in the southern city of Nasiriyah. Thousands more demonstrated in cities including Hillah, Basra, Kirkuk and Tikrit. Many of them chanted a popular refrain from the Arab Spring — “The people demand the fall of the regime!” — as they protested against unemployment, corruption and a lack of public services.

Protester 1: We are demanding a change. We want the downfall of the whole government.”

Protester 2: “Our demands? We want work. We want to work. If they do not want to treat us as Iraqis, then tell us we are not Iraqi, and we will find other nationalities and migrate to other countries.”

Authorities have issued curfews in a number of cities while cutting off internet access across much of Iraq.

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