Security forces kill at least 8 in new protests in Iraq

Security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at demonstrators on the fifth day of anti-government protests in the Iraqi capital Saturday, killing at least eight people and wounding 17, health and security officials said.

The clashes came after authorities earlier in the day lifted a round-the-clock curfew in the capital meant to quell the unrest, sparked by popular anger over lack of jobs and endemic corruption in the oil-rich country.

The violence brought to 72 the total number of people killed over five days of protests, deepening the country's political crisis.

The semi-official Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, affiliated with the parliament, put the death toll at 94. It said nearly 4,000 people have been wounded since Tuesday.

The unrest is the most serious challenge for Iraq since the defeat of the Islamic State group two years ago.

Protesters had defied the curfew, which was imposed on Thursday.

The bloodiest violence in Baghdad came Friday, when 22 people were killed. Health officials said many of the victims' wounds were in the head and chest.

After the curfew was lifted at 5 am local time, shops and traffic returned to normal in most of Baghdad.

But by early afternoon, dozens of protesters began gathering in the streets around Baghdad's main Tahrir Square, which remained closed to cars, as armoured vehicles and troops sealed off the area leading to the square.

Special forces and army vehicles were deployed around the square and as far as 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away.

Security was heavy throughout the capital but protests in central Baghdad were limited to a couple of streets near Tahrir Square.

Health and security officials said four people were killed when forces fired at protesters gathered in a street near the square.

The tear gas and live ammunition was so intense that hundreds of protesters retreated.

In their new location, at least three more protesters were killed amid intense gunfire.

Four others were wounded, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters.

The area was the sight of Friday's deadly violence.

To the south, in the Zaafaraniyeh neighbourhood, another protester was killed and 13 were injured, according to health and police officials.

Rasoul Saray, a 34-year-old unemployed Baghdad resident who took part in the protests, said security officials at checkpoints were stopping young men and turning them away in a number of suburbs, apparently fearing they would join the protests.

Saray said he saw one young man get arrested after security officials inspected his mobile phone and found a recorded protest video.

The protests continued despite calls from Iraq's top Shiite cleric for both sides to end four days of violence "before it's too late."
"It has been 16 years of corruption and injustice. We are not afraid of bullets or the death of martyrs."
One read: "Adel Abdul-Mahdi must resign immediately."
On Friday, influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Abdul-Mahdi's government to resign and hold early elections, saying in the shedding of blood of Iraqis "cannot be ignored."