SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for calm in the southern city of Nasiriyah following days of demonstrations that killed five protesters and wounded dozens.
Protests broke out in Dhi Qar province on February 21. The protesters called for the resignation of the governor and justice for demonstrators who have been killed since 2019.
Governor Nazim Waali submitted his resignation to Kadhimi on Friday night, saying he had stepped down to “preserve the blood of the sons of Dhi Qar”.
At least five protesters were killed and more than 175 others were wounded in clashes between protesters and the security forces in the province, medics told Reuters.
Kadhimi appointed the head of the national security agency, Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, as interim governor, and directed him to form a committee to investigate the violence in the province.
In a statement on Saturday, Kadhimi’s office said the appointment of a new governor, the formation of an advisory council and launching an investigation into the deadly protests “mark a major campaign to rebuild the province”.
The Iraqi prime minister also called for calm in the province to “give a sufficient opportunity to the new administration to carry out its tasks in the service of the city’s people”.
Decades of war, government graft and slim investments have left Iraq’s water, electricity and other public works thoroughly lacking.
Many households have only a few hours of mains electricity per day and complain of polluted tap water. The resulting anger has sparked huge protests in the past.
Iraq’s biggest anti-government protests in decades broke out in October 2019 and continued for months, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis demanding jobs, services and removal of the ruling elite, whom they accused of corruption.
Nearly 600 people were killed, and the protests caused the resignation of Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi.
