Iraqi protesters block roads, bridges in southern city of Najaf
November 26, 2019, 10:00 am

Iraqi protesters block roads, bridges in southern city of Najaf

Masked Iraqi protesters stand next to burning tyres at a roadblock in the central city of Najaf on November 18, 2019. (AFP)

Iraqi protesters have blocked several roads and bridges in parts of Iraq’s southern city of Najaf on Tuesday, as well as roads leading to the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Al-Zubair, Iraqi News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi authorities announced the suspension of official working hours in the Dhi Qar province on Tuesday for security reasons. Dhi Qar’s provincial capital is Nasiriyah which has been a hotbed of violence during the last week of protests.

Several protesters were injured, and several cases of suffocation and injuries among security forces were reported, according to the Iraqi Civil Defense.

Dhi Qar province police said in a statement that 28 policemen were wounded at the Petronas gate near the Gharraf oil field north of the province on Monday. Protesters from Qalat Sukkar district, to the north of Gharraf, organized a protest near the road leading to the oil field.

Roads, bridges blocked in Basra

In the southern province of Basra, Alarabiya sources reported that roads were still blocked on Tuesday for the third consecutive day. Iraqi protesters cut off all major roads leading to the center of the province.

Suffocation cases in Babil

In the Babil Governorate, a security source reported that several citizens suffered from suffocation due to the use of tear gas by Iraqi security forces.

In the central province of Karbala, more than nine demonstrators were reported injured in clashes between protesters and security forces. The clashes continued on Monday evening after several protesters cut off roads and burned tires.

Clashes in Baghdad

Protesters clashed with security forces in the capital Baghdad on Tuesday.

A group of armed Iraqi protesters attempted to attack police forces, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi Civil Defense Directorate announced the injury of an officer and 10 policemen after being hit by Molotov cocktails in the Hafez al-Qadi and Rashid Street in central Baghdad.

The civil defense teams were attacked while trying to extinguish the fires, which broke out in the center of the Iraqi capital. Those injured were transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The wave of protests in Iraq, which started in early October against the corruption of the political class, is the largest and bloodiest in the country in decades, with the use of tear gas, live bullets, rubber bullets, and sound bombs.

Mass protests began in Baghdad and some southern Iraqi cities, demanding the overthrow of the regime and broad reforms, accusing the political class of corruption and failure to run the country.

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