Over 60 die as Iraq protests take a violent turn

BAGHDAD: More than 60 people have died in renewed anti-government protests across Iraq, officials said on Saturday, with clashes breaking out as demonstrators turned their fury against government and paramilitary offices.

The death toll from protests this month has soared to 220, including dozens killed since Friday as they torched government buildings or offices belonging to factions of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force. As many as 42, succumbed on Friday alone from live rounds, tear gas canisters or while torching government buildings or offices belonging to powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary factions in several southern cities. The Iraqi security forces sought to clamp down on protests in Baghdad and across the south on Saturday, a day after dozens died in a bloody resumption of anti-government rallies. A parliamentary session scheduled for Saturday afternoon to discuss the renewed protests was cancelled after it failed to reach a quorum.

Tensions remained high across several cities there on Saturday, with security forces cutting off roads and imposing strict curfews. The storming of provincial headquarters, parliamentarians´workspaces or Hashed offices marks a new phase in the southern rallies but there have been no such incidents so far in the capital. In Baghdad, a few hundred protesters dug in around the emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square on Saturday morning despite efforts by riot police to clear them with tear gas.

The demonstrations first erupted on October 1, with protesters railing against government corruption and unemployment, while a second wave broke out late Thursday. The latest round of demonstrations has been notably violent, with 63 people killed and more than 2,000 wounded over just two days, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission. Three protesters were killed in Baghdad on Saturday, with medics and officials reporting trauma wounds sustained by tear gas canisters lobbed at demonstrators. On Saturday, three people were shot dead while setting fire to a local official´s home in the southern province of Dhi Qar, a police source told AFP.