Battle of bridges in Iraq .. Army warns and the US embassy calls for response

Demonstrations continued in Iraq, and while the armed forces said protesters' access to oil fields was dangerous it would not allow, the US embassy called for responsiveness to reform demands.

Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live bullets into the air to disperse protesters in central Baghdad on Wednesday as the biggest wave of anti-government demonstrations in decades spread across Baghdad.

The Reuters news agency that the shooting occurred on the three main bridges of Baghdad, the free and martyrs and Bab al-Muadham, or close to them after they turned into focal points of protest.

There appeared to be no deaths. Medical and security sources said that at least 27 people were injured due to the firing of gas bombs.

Protesters have been closing the Martyrs Bridge on the Tigris since Tuesday afternoon as part of efforts to cripple the country, with thousands joining anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad and southern provinces.

They tried to take control of Jisr al-Ahrar on Monday when security forces opened fire, killing at least five of them.

The Anatolia news agency quoted a security source that "forces of the Baghdad Operations Command (the army) arrested a number of protesters after they closed Bab al-Muadham bridge, by Rashid Street."

The source explained that "the intervention of the army for the first time, came to the absence of a complete breakdown of the movement between the sides of Karkh and Rusafa, especially after the closure of the bridges of the free and martyrs and the Republic and the Senk by security forces.

Security sources said on Wednesday that arrest warrants for the organizers of the protests were issued from Baghdad to all provinces on Tuesday. Dozens have already been arrested in Basra and Nasiriya, the sources said.

The NetBlok Observatory to monitor Internet outages said that the government cut off the Internet to most parts of Iraq, which was written off more than $ 1 billion of GDP in October.

In many parts of Iraq on Wednesday, the Internet was still off, after it was completely blocked on Monday night before returning to work briefly less than four hours on Tuesday.

The military warns
At a news conference in Baghdad, the spokesman for the commander of the Iraqi armed forces, Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf, warned against using the demonstrations to approach oil installations and companies, given its negative effects on the Iraqi economy, and said that protesters would not be allowed to do so.

Khalaf stressed that it will not be allowed to close bridges and roads and those who will carry out such acts will be arrested immediately and referred to the judiciary because the judiciary criminalized this act and considered it a disruption of state matters.

Regarding casualties among the demonstrators, a spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces said an investigation was under way and that instructions were clear not only for the use of live bullets, but also for the presence of live bullets at demonstrations.

The Iraqi government has said it will not let the situation move towards a constitutional vacuum.

A spokesman for the prime minister said the closure of the port of Umm Qasr has cost the country more than $ 6 billion so far.

There were clashes there overnight as families of protesters killed in previous attempts to break up the sit-in threw stones at security forces stationed near the port of Basra. Security sources said there were no casualties.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said in a televised speech on Tuesday that the protests have an economic impact Iraq is unable to bear, calling on the protesters to stop the destruction of public and private property.

In the meantime, said Speaker of the House of Representatives Mohammed Halbousi that the United Nations announced its readiness to be the guarantor of a comprehensive dialogue in Iraq.

The United Nations Mission and the US Embassy in Iraq expressed concern about the high number of casualties as the demonstrations in Iraq approached its third week.

The US embassy in Baghdad called on the Iraqi government to take seriously the demands of the protesters demanding reform.

The US ambassador said in a statement that Washington condemns the killing and abduction of unarmed protesters and the threat to freedom of expression, stressing that the Iraqis should be free in their decisions on the future of Iraq.

The US ambassador called on the Iraqi government and political leaders to react urgently and seriously to the demands of reform and the fight against corruption.

More than 260 Iraqis have been killed in demonstrations since the beginning of October, rejecting a political class that protesters describe as corrupt and captive to foreign interests. Security forces shot dead at least 13 protesters in the 24 hours to Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, medical sources reported that four other people died of injuries sustained in previous protests during the past week.