SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Anti-government protesters hit streets in several Iraqi cities on Saturday, defying lockdowns and the threat of violence.
Tensions were high in several Iraqi cities, one day after clashes between protesters and supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
In Nasiriyah, anti-government activists accused Sadr’s followers of shooting at them and torching their tents in their main gathering place of Habboubi Square late Friday.
Clashes continued into the night, with medics reporting a total of seven dead by Saturday morning, five of them from bullet wounds, and at least 60 wounded, according to AFP.
Violence also broke out on Saturday night in the southern city of Kut. A police source told AFP that a protester was killed in skirmishes with security forces.
AFP reported that authorities in Kut had imposed new restrictions on movement at dawn on Saturday and fired tear gas at protesters in an effort to clear out their camp.
Despite a curfew imposed in Nasiriyah since Friday night, outraged protesters gathered at Habboubi Square starting early on Saturday.
A security source told AFP that units of security forces had been deployed to the city’s edges to seal off access to Nasiriyah to anyone except its residents.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has sacked the police chief of Dhi Qar, launched an investigation into events and imposed an overnight curfew in the city.
U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and UK Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey condemned the violence against peaceful protesters that took place in Nasiriyah.
“These unjustifiable acts of violence have no place in a democracy,” the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said in a tweet.
“There can be no justification for such senseless killing,” Hickey said in a tweet earlier on Saturday.
The U.S. embassy and the UK diplomat called on the Iraqi government to hold accountable those responsible and to provide protection for protesters.
