In the worst street unrest since the 2003 US-led invasion, and with more than 200 wounded, one controversial general has already been removed
The latest violence brings the death toll since early October to more than 370, with more than 15,000 woundedIraqi mourners carry a coffin, draped in a national flag, of a driver who ferried injured protesters and was later killed in Baghdad during clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in Najaf on November 28 2019. Picture: AFP/HAIDAR HAMDANI
Late on Wednesday, protesters outraged at Tehran’s political influence in Iraq burned down the Iranian consulate in the shrine city of Najaf, yelling “Victory to Iraq!” and “Iran out!” In response, Prime Ministerearly on Thursday, ordered military chiefs to be deployed in several restive provinces to “impose security and restore order”, the army said.
The latest violence brings the death toll since early October to more than 370, with more than 15,000 wounded, according to an AFP tally, as authorities are not releasing updated or precise figures. Thousands of Nasiriyah’s residents took to the streets to mourn the city’s dead in funeral processions, defying a curfew announced there earlier in the day.
Events in southern Iraq have unfolded dramatically since late Wednesday, when protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. They set tyres and other items ablaze around the consulate, sending tall flames and thick clouds of smoke into the night sky, an AFP correspondent witnessed. They also broke into the building itself, which had been apparently evacuated by its Iranian staff.
Iran and Iraq have close but complicated ties. The two countries fought a devastating 1980-1988 war, but Iran now has significant sway among Iraqi political and military leaders. On Thursday, clashes broke out near the provincial headquarters of Karbala between some 200 protesters and riot police using tear gas and flash bangs. Protesters kept up their sit-ins in Kut, Amara and Hilla, all south of the capital, despite a notably larger security presence. In the oil-rich port city of Basra, most government offices re-opened but schools remained closed as security forces deployed in the streets.
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