ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Iraqi security forces killed at least six protesters in the capital Baghdad and four more in the southern oil-hub city of Basra on Thursday, Reuters reported as protests continue amid regular internet blackouts.
Security forces used live rounds against protesters near the central Shuhada Bridge close to Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the main base for demonstrators.
Brutal force was also used against those blocking Umm Qasr port, a key source of revenue for the Iraqi economy, which has been closed multiple times this week as demonstrators remain defiant.
Reuters also reported “scores” of protesters injured over the weekend.
Despite the deaths, Iraqi state media quoted Baghdad Operations Command commander Staff Lt. Gen. Qaes al-Mohammadawi as saying that traffic on Shuhada Bridge, where the deaths occurred, was moving as normal after it was reopened on Thursday.
Iraqis have been out on the streets since October 1, 2019, demanding an end to corruption, more employment opportunities, and an end to nepotism.
After entering a brief hiatus on October 8 to observe the Shiite pilgrimage of Arbaeen, protests erupted once again on October 25, with more radical demands calling for the overthrow of the government and electoral and constitutional reforms.
Protesters are fighting to surpass security forces holding numerous strategic bridges leading to the capital’s fortified Green Zone- home to politicians, foreign embassies, government offices.
The Jumhurya, Sinak and Ahrar bridges are some of the current hotspots.
Iraqi Security forces in the Green Zone have set up multiple levels of barricades to prevent protesters from breaking into the area. Protesters have now started using green lasers beams to block their vision, and have also seized control of the “Turkish Restaurant” building in Tahrir Square, a bombed-out Baghdad tower restaurant that has now has become a symbol of the protests.
Iraq’s most important port, Umm Qasr in Basra has also been closed due to the protests.
Umm Qasr has been subject to several closures- and re-openings- in the past week as protesters and security forces continue to clash. In the early hours of Thursday, the Iraqi army regained control of the port before it was shut by protesters just hours later.
According to Major Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the closure of the port and the surrounding roads have cost Iraq $6 billion.
The closure and blockades by protesters even worried the United Nation’s (UN) mission to Iraq (UNAMI).
“Disruption of critical infrastructure also of grave concern. Responsibility of all to protect public facilities. Threats/closures of roads to oil installations, ports causing billions in losses. Detrimental to #Iraq’s economy, undermines fulfilling protesters’ legitimate demands,” Jeanine Hennis Plaschart, head of the UN’s Iraqi mission, said in a tweet on November 6.
The mention of oil, however, was not well received by Iraqis, who have already lost faith in the UN.
Ahmed al-Basheer, presenter of political satire program al-Basheer, did not hide his frustration with the UNAMI chief.
“I was wondering why no one is responding to save the Iraqi people , now I see, they are trying to save the Iraqi oil,” al-Basheer said in a tweet on November 7.
Both al-Basheer and the archiver Mosul Eye called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to have the UNAMI chief Hennis-Plaschart sacked.
More than 260 Iraqis have been killed and 10,000 wounded since the protests first started on October 1.
Among the worst cases of violence against protesters has been the usage of military-grade tear gas, with canisters piercing the skulls of protesters.
Despite the frustration, Iraqis continue to take to the streets. Internet blackouts have become regular for Iraqis.
Telegram channels that support the protests have not posted since Thursday, a sign that the Internet is still down.
This internet blackout continues despite an announcement by Iraqi state media that internet was back on “throughout the country” on Thursday.
Curfews were also imposed throughout the city and across several Iraqi provinces. Those in the capital, however, have now been lifted permanently, according to al-Mohammadawi.
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