Two protesters shot dead in south Iraq: medical source

Two protesters were shot dead overnight in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, a medical source told AFP Sunday, as anti-government sit-ins shut down schools and bridges in the city.

At least 47 other people were wounded as protesters blocked roads and many public offices by burning tyres.

Iraq's mostly agricultural south has been swept up in the grassroots movement demanding a total overhaul of a government system seen widely as corrupt and inefficient.