SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United Nations on Sunday urged Iraqi authorities to hold accountable perpetrators who carried out violence against protesters in the South.
Anti-government demonstrators defied lockdowns and the threat of violence to demonstrate in several cities in southern Iraq for the second day in a row on Saturday.
Violence broke out on Saturday night in the southern city of Kut. A police source said a protester was killed in skirmishes with security forces.
In Nasiriyah, anti-government activists accused supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr 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.
“Condemning the recent violence, UNAMI laments the loss of life and injuries among Iraqi protesters,” UNAMI said in a tweet early on Sunday.
“We call for calm and urge the authorities to do the utmost to protect peaceful demonstrators, ensuring perpetrators of violence are held accountable,” it tweeted.
To end the protests, local authorities in Kut had imposed new restrictions on movement at dawn on Saturday and fired tear gas at demonstrators in an effort to clear out their camps.
On Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sacked the police chief of Dhi Qar province, formed a committee to investigate the events and imposed a curfew in Nasiriyah.
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.
