Pictures .. Iraqi protesters escalate after the deadline

Iraqi demonstrators escalated their protests today, Monday, after the week they set for them to implement their demands expires. The capital, Baghdad and the cities of the central and southern governorates, witnessed massive demonstrations that led to dozens of dead and wounded.

The protests in Baghdad began early in the morning, before the road leading to Tahrir Square, the center of the protests in the capital, was closed, as protesters set tires to prevent traffic.

The sources added that two people were killed in Baghdad, one of whom was shot in the neck and the other after being hit by a tear shell in the head, during the demonstrations that took place at Al-Tayaran Square, near Tahrir Square.

The protesters are demanding political and economic reforms and the formation of a government with a new president away from the dominance of the ruling parties, as well as calling for an amendment to the electoral system and the constitution.

In Karbala, the sources said that one demonstrator was killed as a result of a bullet from a sniper weapon in his chest, and about twenty others were injured in the demonstrations in the city today.

In the city of Nasiriyah (the center of Dhi Qar Governorate, south of the country), witnesses said that more than twenty demonstrators were wounded.

In the city of Basra (the far south of the country), security sources said that a civilian car ran over and killed two policemen during the protests. She added that the driver was trying to avoid the location of the clashes between the protesters and the security forces when two security personnel were shocked.

Elsewhere in the south of the country, hundreds of protesters set tires and closed major roads in several cities, including Amara.