Iraq

BAGHDAD, Oct 7 (NNN-NINA) – Baghdad’s provincial council, voted to sack the incumbent governor, and called for nomination of an alternative for the post of Baghdad governor, the official television reported.

Members of the provincial council voted unanimously, to dismiss the governor, Falah al-Jazairi, and to open the door for nomination for the post of governor for five days, the state-run Iraqiya channel said, without giving further details about the reason behind the dismissal.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Twelve anti-government demonstrators were killed Sunday in ongoing protests in the capital Baghdad, the latest fatalities in six days of clashes that have left more than 100 dead and thousands wounded.

Iraq’s government has scrambled to contain the popular anger that has racked Baghdad and a number of southern cities since Tuesday. Security forces responded with a crackdown on the spontaneous rallies of demonstrators demanding jobs, better services and an end to endemic corruption in the oil-rich country.

Baghdad, Oct 5 (AFP/PTI) The death toll from mass protests in Baghdad and cities across southern Iraq rose to 93 on Saturday as the unrest entered its fifth day, parliament's human rights commission said.

Nearly 4,000 people have also been injured since the protests against chronic unemployment, poor public services and widespread corruption erupted in the capital on Tuesday, the commission said.

It was not immediately clear whether the latest deaths were from Friday's huge protests or fresh demonstrations on Saturday.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi protesters pressed on with angry anti-government rallies in the capital and across several provinces for a fifth day Saturday, setting government offices on fire and ignoring appeals for calm from political and religious leaders. Security agencies fatally shot 19 protesters and wounded more than three dozen in a sustained deadly response that has claimed more than 80 lives since the upheaval began.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Security forces opened fire directly at hundreds of anti-government demonstrators Friday in central Baghdad, killing at least 17 protesters and injuring dozens, hours after Iraq’s top Shiite cleric warned both sides to end four days of violence “before it’s too late.”

The latest deaths raised the number of people killed in clashes during ongoing protests to 59 and marked a sharp escalation in the use of force against unarmed protesters.

4 Oct 2019; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called on lawmakers on Thursday to support him to reshuffle cabinet posts and urged calm after three days of deadly civil unrest rocked the country, Reuters reports.

Abdul Mahdi said there was no ‘magic solution’ to Iraq’s chronic governance problems and graft but pledged to try to pass a law granting poor families a basic income.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s premier on Friday sent a message to anti-government protesters, saying their “legitimate demands” have been heard and urging them to go home while also comparing security measures imposed in the wake of this week’s violence, including a curfew, to “bitter medicine” that needs to be swallowed.

3 Oct 2019; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Wednesday declared a curfew in Baghdad until further notice after at least seven people were killed and more than 400 were injured during two days of nationwide anti-government protests, Reuters reports.

BAGHDAD, Oct 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iraqi authorities sealed off the central Green Zone just four months after its celebrated opening, a government source said in response to widespread protests in the capital.

Security forces and military vehicles have been deployed around the area, which hosts government offices and embassies, “until further notice”, the source said.

The Green Zone had been inaccessible for most Iraqis since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq but had reopened to the public in June.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security forces used tear gas against a few hundred protesters gathered in central Baghdad on Thursday, hours after a curfew was announced in the Iraqi capital on the heels of two days of deadly violence that gripped the country amid anti-government protests.

Before dawn, explosions were heard inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to government offices and foreign embassies. The U.S.-led coalition said an investigation is underway, adding that no coalition forces or assets were hit.