BAGHDAD, Oct 28 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi authorities said, the death toll from the new wave of nationwide protests over unemployment, corruption and lack of public services has risen to 74.
Ali al-Bayati, member of the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), said that, clashes between the protesters and the security forces from Oct 25 to 27, left 74 people killed.
He said that most of the deaths were caused by shooting, by guards of the political parties, when the protesters attacked their headquarters, in addition to suffocation by tear gas.
Al-Bayati also said that a total of 3,654 demonstrators and security members were wounded, mostly due to tear gas, and most of them have left hospitals.
During the three-day protests, up to 90 buildings for government, political headquarters and private were burned by some individuals, who wanted to derail the demonstrations from their peaceful path, he added.
According to al-Bayati, security forces used tear gas, hot water, sound bombs and batons, to disperse the demonstrators during the clashes.
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied Sunday, in Tahrir Square, eastern side of the Tigris, but their number increased by evening, an Interior Ministry source said.
It was obvious that Sunday protests were calmer than the past two days, as the protesters made only a few attempts to cross the nearby al-Jumhouriyah Bridge, to reach the Green Zone, which houses main government offices and some foreign embassies, the source said.
However, clashes occurred when riot police fired tear gas and sound bombs, to disperse the demonstrators, who tried to cross the bridge and pushed them back to Tahrir Square, the source added.
Demonstrators also rallied in several southern and central provinces, but no clashes were reported between them and the security forces.– NNN-NINA