Two protesters were killed and several injured Jan. 10 in Iraq, as security forces attempted to put down a third consecutive day of angry demonstrations in the southern city of Nasiriyah. A police officer was also reportedly killed in street clashes. Anti-government protesters had two days earlier re-occupied Haboubi Square, demanding the release of their comrades arrested in recent weeks. A protest encampment had been in place in the square for over a year until November 2020, when the camp was attacked by followers of Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr [10], with several killed [11]. Witnesses said that in the new violence, security forces opened fire to disperse protesters from the square. (Middle East Eye [14], The National [15], UAE)
Paramilitary forces have been employed to repress [16] repeated waves of protest [17] in Iraq over the past years. The country faces a fast-deepening economic crisis amid the pandemic-triggered collapse in oil prices [18].
