IRAQ: Protester killed and seven injured by Iraqi security forces fire in Basra

BASRA, Iraq – Medical sources in Basra reported that a protester was killed and at least seven others were wounded at Bahriya Square in central Basra, southern Iraq, after security forces dispersed a sit-in protest demanding the investigation and prosecution of the killers of recent assaults and assassinations of protesters. The protest was held near the Basra Governate building and eyewitnesses stated to the media that riot police had broken up the protest.

This August, the Iraqi government announced that since the start of the popular protests against the corrupt political class and the deterioration of living conditions in October 2019, 565 protesters and security personnel had been killed during protests in various cities.