Baghdad, Oct 3: The Iraqi authorities have imposed curfew in the capital, Baghdad, on Thursday, following the second day of clashes between pro-democratic protesters and security forces in the nation.
The restriction is likely to be not lifted until the next order. Curfew has also been imposed in three different provinces as anti-government demonstrations over poor services, lack of jobs and corruption escalated.
According to BBC, seven individuals had been reported dead during the mass protest in Iraq, including other hundreds injured. The nation-wide protest is seen as the largest demonstration since Iraq Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi assumed office a year back.
The government assured it will address anti-government protesters’ concerns while accusing unnamed “rioters” of civil unrest in the nation.
In an official statement on Thursday, Mahdi said all “vehicles and individuals are totally forbidden to move” in capital Baghdad from 05:00 (02:00 GMT) local time.
The province’s airport, government employees in hospitals, ambulances, electricity and water departments, as well as, religious pilgrims were exempted from the restrictions imposed. Curfew has been already imposed in Iraqi provinces of Nasiriya, Amara and Hilla.
The United Nations (UN) has called on Iraq to exercise maximum restraint. “Every individual has the right to speak freely, in keeping with the law,” UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said.
In Baghdad, security forces fired live rounds and tear gas in an attempt to disperse the pro-democratic protesters in various suburbs.
“We are demanding a change, we want the downfall of the whole government,” one anti-government protester said in Baghdad. Moreover, Iraq’s interior ministry blamed “rioters who aimed to undermine the true meaning of the [protesters’] demands and strip them of peacefulness”.
On Tuesday, Mahdi expressed grave concern over the pertaining protests and vowed an inquiry “to learn reasons” behind the mass demonstration.
“It saddens me and breaks our hearts the injuries among the protesters, our sons, and the security forces and the destruction and looting of public and private properties,” he wrote on Facebook.
He added: “We stress to the people of our nation that our priorities were and will remain focused on providing radical realistic solutions to many of the decades-long accumulated problems.” Moreover, the prime minister pledged to introduce more job opportunities for graduates in the nation.