Baghdad: For more than three years after graduation, Karar Ala’a Abdul-Wahid tried to get a stable job in the Iraqi government and in the private sector — to no avail. He once was offered a job with the oil ministry in his energy-rich hometown of Basra, but it came with a hefty price: He would have to pay a bribe of $5,000, which he couldn’t afford.  “Every place has a copy of my resume attached with a request for job,”…

At least 14 people have been killed in Iraq in two weeks of protests over corruption and lack of public services, a member of the state human rights commission said Monday. Demonstrations have rocked southern and central Iraq since erupting in the oil-rich port city of Basra on July 8, when security forces opened fire killing one person. They have since waned after security forces repeatedly used force to disperse demonstrators, although AFP reporters cited protests in the south on…

rotests against corruption, poor services and unemployment are challenging the Shiite political class that since 2003 has pilfered the country's resources. Demonstrations in Iraq are not new, but these are different. July has witnessed soaring temperatures in southern Iraq that have boiled over into popular mass mobilization against corruption, wretched services and unemployment. Mass protests that started in Basra two weeks ago have since spread to nine predominately Shiite southern provinces and the capital, Baghdad. Provincial governorate buildings have been sieged,…

BAGHDAD — Widespread protests over miserable living conditions in southern Iraq continued Friday, but demonstrators largely avoided confronting a large deployment of police and military. Throughout the southern provinces and in the capital, protesters gathered in large public squares and demanded reforms while also chanting “silmiyah,” or “peaceful.” Tensions briefly flared in Baghdad when protesters began marching from Liberation Square toward a bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone. Police responded with water cannons, prompting demonstrators to throw bottles and chant:…

Baghdad (CNN)At least eight people are dead and dozens injured in weeklong protests over jobs and basic services, Iraq's Ministry of Health spokesman Saif al-Bader said Monday. The protests started in the southern Iraq port city of Basra and spread to different areas of the country. At least 56 people have been wounded, seven of them critically, Bader said in a news conference.   Of the eight dead, two were killed in Basra, two in Najaf, three in al-Simawa and…

At least two protesters were killed in southern Iraq as protests against economic hardship and corruption spread from the port of Basra to other parts of the country. Protesters on July 14 stormed the provincial government building in Kerbala on the sixth day of rallies, which also took place in the city Najaf, where demonstrators stormed the airport and halted air traffic. The two deaths in the city Amarah brought to three the number of protesters killed in the past…

Iraq was rocked by increasingly violent protests for a seventh day on Sunday as citizens of the oil-rich southern province of Basra took to the streets denouncing corruption and demanding water, electricity and jobs. Two people were killed on Sunday night in spillover protests in nearby Samawa bringing the  total death toll to five since protests began as the demonstrations appeared to spread.  "Hundreds of people tried to storm a courthouse. Shots were fired towards us. It was not clear who was shooting. We had…

Basra – Four Iraqi protesters were killed and three others were after security forces opened fire at them to restore security in the unrest-plagued southern governorate of Basra, a security source was quoted as saying. According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Iraqi troops “opened fire at a group of protesters who gathered outside the headquarters of Basra provincial council in a bid to storm it, leaving four demonstrators dead and three others injured.” The source…

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As violent protests continue to rage in Iraq’s southern provinces, some airlines in the region have suspended flights to the country for security reasons. Royal Jordanian Airline, Flydubai, and Kuwait Airways have all suspended flights to the Iraqi city of Najaf while flights from Iran have been diverted to the capital Baghdad. On Friday, air traffic was put on hold as protestors demanding an end to unemployment and corruption in the government stormed the Najaf International Airport. Since…

People took to the streets of Basra on Sunday, the center Iraq’s oil industry, to protest the lack of services and job opportunities in the region. Protesters blocked roads, preventing oil company employees from going to work while chanting slogans calling for jobs and the improvement of public services, notably government-supplied electricity. Witnesses told Kurdistan 24 security forces fired warning shots into the air to disperse crowds of disgruntled civilians gathered on the streets of Bahala, north of Basra city.…