Iraqi forces killed at least two protesters while defending Baghdad's Green Zone, officials said today, as the troubled country's leaders warned against further escalation.
The two supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr were the first casualties of the months-old protest movement started by the young cleric to push for political change.
They were interred in the holy city of Najaf, which is home to the world's largest cemetery where millions of people from Iraq's Shiite majority are buried.
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"The victims were buried... In Wadi al-Salam (Valley of Peace) cemetery," said Sheikh Imad al-Kaabi, an official in the Sadr Movement.
During the funeral, a relative of one of the deceased accused the state of using excessive force.
"Peaceful protesters were exposed to the fire of live and rubber bullets and tear gas," said the man, who gave his name as Abu Mohammed.
Yesterday saw the worst eruption of violence since Sadr, the scion of an influential clerical family from Najaf, ordered his many followers to take to the streets to demand reforms.
His supporters confronted the security forces and broke into the Green Zone, a sprawling fortified district in central Baghdad that hosts most of the country's top institutions.
A small group managed to storm Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office. They quickly pulled out.
The protesters faced a barrage of tear gas fire and generally stiffer resistance than three weeks earlier, when they broke into the Green Zone for the first time and stormed parliament.
Security and medical officials also said at least 57 people were wounded in yesterday's unrest, during which forces also used water cannons and sound bombs against protesters, some of whom threw rocks and other debris.
Security forces also fired live rounds during the demonstration, mostly into the air, but officials said at least two protesters had died of bullet wounds.
Abadi reacted to the latest breach by saying that "storming state institutions... Cannot be accepted", but added that he supports the "demands of the peaceful protesters".
Sadr vowed yesterday that "peaceful protests" would continue, warning that "the revolution will take another form" if there are attempts to block them.
Abadi has made several attempts to push through reforms aimed at curbing corruption and spending since he took the country's top job in 2014.
