- Title: Deadly clashes flare again in Iraq, five killed in capital
- Date: 5th October 2019
- Summary: VARIOUS OF SMOKE PLUMES RISING OVER CROWD OF PROTESTERS
- Embargoed: 19th October 2019 19:50
- Keywords: Iraq clashes Iraq protests five killed in Baghdad Iraq unrest protests
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- City: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA002AZTKQIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Clashes between police and protesters killed five people in Baghdad on Saturday (October 5) in a resumption of anti-government unrest, as security forces deployed in their hundreds to keep demonstrations away from central squares in the Iraqi capital.
Police and medical sources reported the casualties after days of violence around anti-government protests that killed at least 81 people in Baghdad and other cities earlier this week.
Iraq's semi-official High Commission for Human Rights put the toll at 94 dead. Reuters could not verify its figures.
Police snipers shot at demonstrators and several people were wounded in eastern Baghdad, Reuters reporters said. Police also fired live rounds at demonstrators in the southern city of Nassiriya, where at least 18 people were killed during the week.
The new clashes shattered a day of relative calm after authorities lifted a curfew and traffic moved normally in the centre of the city. One square where protesters had gathered in their hundreds in previous was packed with hundreds of policemen and other security personnel.
The unrest is the deadliest Iraq has seen since the declared defeat of Islamic State in 2017 and has shaken Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's year-old government. The government has responded with vague reform promises that are unlikely to placate Iraqis.
(Production: Maher Nazeh, Mostafa Salem, Louisa Naks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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