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IRAQI police targeted protesters in Basra with tear gas, water cannon and even gunfire yesterday as protests continued for a sixth day.
Residents are demanding jobs and better public services in demonstrations that have prompted the government to block internet access across the Shi’ite heartland of Iraq.
The timing is sensitive as the country awaits a partial recount of election results that saw the Sairoun alliance, a pact between followers of nationalist Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Iraqi Communist Party, come first.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the local government building and closed the roads leading to major oil fields north and west of Basra city.
Guards at a local government building apparently opened fire on protesters, leading them to flee, but it was not clear whether there were any injuries.
Saturday saw major protests in Baghdad, with hundreds demonstrating in Tahrir Square and Sadr City. The uproar forced Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to return early from last week’s Nato summit in Brussels.
