BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities said on Tuesday they had exempted military and security commanders from various Iraqi forces in seven of 18 provinces, which have been hit by protests that could resume Friday.
The death toll from a week of bloody protests in Iraq two weeks ago reached 157 dead, most of them demonstrators, mostly in the capital Baghdad, according to an official report published Tuesday.
Nearly 70 percent of those killed were shot live in the head and chest, the report said.