(BAGHDAD) — Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters Saturday, killing at least one and wounding more than 200 in the capital Baghdad and in the country’s south, police officials and a semi-official human rights commission said. The largest protest took place in Baghdad, where tens of thousands of people gathered in and near a central square in defiance of a government crackdown that killed dozens over the past month. Tens of…

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters were blocking all roads leading to Iraq’s main Gulf port Umm Qasr on Saturday, after security forces used live rounds and tear gas on them overnight, security sources said. Operations at the port have been at a complete standstill since Wednesday, after protesters first blocked its entrance on Tuesday. Umm Qasr receives the vast bulk of Iraq’s imports of grain, vegetable oils and sugar, needed to feed a country heavily dependent on imported…

Masked gunmen opened fire at Iraqi protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks on protesters since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier this month. The attack, which happened overnight, came as Iraqis took to the streets for a fifth consecutive day, protesting their government’s corruption, lack of services and other grievances. The bloodshed in Karbala, a major pilgrimage site where a revered Shiite…

At least 67 Iraqis were killed and hundreds wounded in two days of protests over the weekend, as demonstrators clashed with security forces and militia groups in a second wave of protests against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government this month. Seeking to contain the spiralling violence, on Saturday night Abdul Mahdi ordered members of the country's elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) onto the streets of the capital Baghdad and the southern city of Nasiriya. They were told to "use all…

Iraqi police fired live shots into the air and dozens of tear gas canisters to disperse thousands of protesters, sending young demonstrators running for cover and covering the capital's bridge with thick white smoke. At least two demonstrators died in Baghdad on Friday, the Iraqi Human Rights Commission said, as anti-government protests resumed following the deaths of dozens earlier this month. Commission member Ali Bayati said both demonstrators appeared to have died from wounds sustained when they were hit by tear…

In a report by its Human Rights Office published late on Monday, UNAMI said there was evidence that security forces had used excessive force against protesters and made mass arrests. There were also reports that security forces had denied protesters medical treatment, it said. “UNAMI’s interim findings indicate that serious human rights violations and abuses have been committed in the context of the demonstrations in Iraq,” the report said in its conclusion. “The number of dead, the extent and scale…

The deployment of militia fighters, which has not been previously reported, underscores the chaotic nature of Iraqi politics amid mass protests that led to more than 100 deaths and 6,000 injuries during the week starting Oct. 1. Such militias have become a fixture here with Iran’s rising influence. They sometimes operate in conjunction with Iraqi security forces but they retain their own command structures. The Iraqi security sources told Reuters that the leaders of Iran-aligned militias decided on their own…

Families of slain demonstrators vow to pursue justice and keep on protesting Leila Abbas Hussein sobbed over a pair of sneakers, her entire body shaking. “These are his shoes,” she said, almost choking on her words. “These are the martyr’s shoes.” Her 20-year-old son Mohamed Habib Abbas was one of the first to die in the protests against endemic corruption that swept Iraq this month. Along with thousands of other mostly young protesters, he was demanding basic necessities: jobs, education,…

A small window of calm settled on the Baghdad streets on Sunday, following five days of violent protests. But, at dusk, the mayhem ricocheted once again through the Iraqi capital and southern cities with a clear message from civilians: Cut the corruption and provide essential services, and get Iran and its proxies out of government. “Protesters are being burned with hot water, tear gas, and by live fire. We are poor people, and the Iranian-backed militias are doing this to us. They are even…

The death toll from anti-government protests in Iraq has risen to almost 100, says the country's parliamentary human rights commission. The unrest entered its fifth day on Saturday, with at least five people killed in the latest clashes in the capital Baghdad. The security forces are again reported to have used live rounds. Demonstrators say they are taking a stand against unemployment, poor public services and corruption. It is the deadliest unrest since so-called Islamic State was declared defeated in…