ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Iraqi security forces are using live ammunition to disperse protesters in Nasiriyah’s protest hub of Habubi Square, according to demonstrators at the scene.
Protesters have reportedly been under attack since early this morning in an attempt to push them back from the square.
Hayder, 29, has been protesting on the streets since late October.
“Yesterday the security forces were targeting the protesters with live ammunition in different locations around the city of Nasiriyah,” Hayder told Rudaw English on Sunday.
“However, today the security forces are using live ammunition to push back the protesters from Habubi Square, which is the most strategic and key area for the protesters in Nasiriyah city center,” he added.
Three protesters were shot dead forces by security forces near Fahd bridge on Saturday, confirmed by a video that circulated on social media.
The events in Nasiriyah follows a violent Saturday crackdown in protest-hit cities as protester camps were ejected, tents burned and key bridges and roads seized by security forces following blockades.
The repression followed a formal withdrawal of support for the protests from influential Shiite Cleric stoking anger and accusations of betrayal from his supporters on the streets.
A large crowd of students are on strike in central and southern parts of Iraq to show support to the protesters who have been on the streets consistently since October 25.
After a period of relative tranquility, violence resumed last week in many cities in across Iraq after security forces started to use live ammunition and attacked protesters’ position in the streets and squares.
At least 10 died in clashes last week, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, with at least three killed on Saturday alone, according to AFP.
In a tweet, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative to Iraq, called on Iraqi authorities to serve and protect the people and to continue implementing reforms.
“Unaccountability and indecisiveness are unworthy of Iraqi hopes, courageously expressed for four months now. While death and injury tolls continue to rise, steps taken so far will remain hollow if not completed. The people must be served and protected, not violently oppressed,” Hennis-Plasschaert tweeted Saturday.
Iraqis originally took to the streets of the nation’s southern and central cities on October 1 to protest the lack of basic services, rampant corruption, and high unemployment. The movement then spiraled into calls for complete governmental change.
More than 600 people have been killed and around 18,000 injured in clashes between protesters, security forces, and pro-Iran militias according to Amnesty International.
