Iraqi security forces shot at least 14 people in the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala overnight after initiating fire on protesters, medical and security sources announced, in a return to tactics condemned by the government’s internal inquiry. At least 865 people were wounded, the sources said.
Iraqis took to the streets for a fourth day on Monday in the second flow of demonstrations against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government and a political elite they state are corrupt and out of touch.
The unrest, prompted by dissatisfaction over the economic calamity and deep-seated corruption, has broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq, which from 2003 to 2017 endured a foreign occupation, civil war and an Islamic State insurgency.
An Iraqi government committee investigating the first wave, which took place during the first week of October, found that 149 civilians were killed because security forces used excessive force and live fire to quell protests.
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