Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least five, a Reuters witness said, as thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in the center of the city.
Reuters video showed security forces shooting one protester dead with live ammunition. A Reuters cameraman said he saw at least four other people get killed.
Clashes erupted on a bridge in Baghdad on Monday as protesters were wounded by Iraqi security forces.
Protesters defied the prime minister’s earlier plea to end the demonstrations which he says are costing Iraq’s economy billions of dollars and disrupting daily life.
The protests have broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq since they started on Oct.1. More than 250 people have been killed.
Despite the country’s oil wealth, many people live in poverty with limited access to clean water, electricity, healthcare or education.
“The youth have lived through economic hardships, explosions, oppression. We want to root out this political elite completely. We want to get rid of this gang, then maybe we can rest,” said a protester, said a protester, who did not wish to be identified, who had camped overnight in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square.
Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi appealed to protesters on Sunday night to suspend their movement which he said had achieved its goals and was hurting the economy.
The premier has said he is willing to resign if politicians agree on a replacement and promised a number of reforms, but protesters say that is not enough and that the entire political class needs to go.
Operations at Iraq’s main Gulf port of Umm Qasr, which receives the bulk of the country’s grain, vegetable oil and sugar imports, have been at a complete standstill since Wednesday.
The anger over economic hardship and corruption is aimed at the sectarian power-sharing system of governance introduced in Iraq after 2003 and the political elites benefiting from it.
Hundreds of protesters gathered overnight in front of the Iranian consulate in the Shia holy city of Kerbala and tried to set it on fire. Security forces dispersed them using tear gas and live ammunition, security and medical sources said.
Three people were killed and at least 10 people were wounded, including four from gunshots.
