Iraq News: War With Protestors Leads To 100 Deaths, Thousands Of Injuries

In the continuing Iraq protests, eight more people were killed Sunday taking the overall death toll beyond 100 and more than 6,000 sustained injuries, according to reports.

Violent clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters entered its sixth day on Sunday after demonstrators thronged the city streets despite the government announcing a package to douse the protests over corruption and unemployment.

The latest clashes erupted in the Sadr city residential area of the capital, per an Interior Ministry spokesman.

The spokesman also said a total of 6,107 had been wounded so far, including 1,000 police and security personnel.

Protesters set ablaze dozens of buildings. But the spokesman denied the allegation that security forces fired directly at the protesters.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government came to power a year ago. Although the oil-producing country defeated the Islamic State two years ago and improved the security environment, issues like corruption, wrecked infrastructure post the Iraq war and job scarcity had been angering the public.

Government unveils sops to mollify protesters

The Iraq government on Saturday unveiled a 17-point plan hiking the housing subsidy for weaker sections, stipends for the unemployed and training programs and loans for the unemployed youngsters.

The government also promised relief to the families of those killed during the protests. Such assistance is usually restricted to members of the security forces killed during the war.

According to Iraq news, the street protests were not organized by any political group but were a sporadic response to social media calls that caught the government unawares.

Demonstrators were also shouting that neighboring Iran must not meddle in Iraqi politics, per Iran news.

Protesters also sought dismissal of top government officials as authorities cut Internet service in Baghdad and many parts of the country.

Concern over violation of human rights

Meanwhile, Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, urged the Iraq government to eschew a violent crackdown and allow peaceful assembly of citizens to exercise their freedom of expression without fear. Marta expressed concerns at the excessive use of force.

At the economic front, Iraq’s oil exports fell in September and dipped to 3.576 million barrels per day (BPD) from the 3.603 million BPD it exported in August, according to the oil ministry.

There was a marked fall in exports from the Basra terminals to 3.434 million BPD, from the 3.468 million BPD in August.

The oil prices of Iraq in September were an average $59.149 per barrel, the ministry added.

Iraq is currently producing crude oil below its actual capacity of 5 million BPD adhering to the production-cut policy of the OPEC and allies like Russia to bolster prices.

Iraq also signed a pact with Boskalis of the Netherlands recently. This was to build an artificial island south of the Abot tanker terminal in the Persian Gulf to double its oil exports and expand storage capacity.