Clashes continued between the Iraqi security forces and the protesters in Baghdad and the cities of the south yesterday, and the security forces fired tear gas and gunfire after efforts to break up the sit-in camps, while the Iraqi Human Rights Commission announced that it had documented the killing of 12 demonstrators in the capital Baghdad and Dhi Qar Governorate since the renewed clashes.
Hundreds of students flocked to Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, which was crowded with demonstrators demanding reform of the political process and speeding up the formation of an interim government that paves the way for early elections, and emphasizing stability in Tahrir Square until the demands of the demonstrators are fulfilled.
The protesters threw stones at the security forces with incendiary bombs and stones, and the forces responded by firing tear gas and bullets into the air, after the security forces began removing concrete barriers near Tahrir Square, where the protesters had been protesting for months.
Security and medical sources said that at least 14 protesters were injured in the capital, and volunteers used "Tok Talk" vehicles to evacuate the injured protesters amid clouds of gas and black smoke from burning tires.
Hundreds of university students gathered in Tahrir Square, which includes the main sit-in camp, chanting slogans against Iran and the United States.
Security forces used live bullets in an attempt to disperse small gatherings in the Al-Khulani and Al-Wathba areas, close to the central protest camp in Tahrir Square, according to a police source.
Medical sources and eyewitnesses reported that 73 Iraqi demonstrators were injured by bullets and tear gas as the riot police attempted to remove the demonstrators from the Al-Bho Square in the center of Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate.
The sources told the German News Agency (dpa) that the Iraqi riot police launched operations to break up gatherings of demonstrators in the lobby square in the center of Nasiriyah, using live bullets and tear gas, and indicated that the security forces chased the demonstrators in hit-and-run operations in the city's streets, while Heavy smoke and burning fire were seen as a result of burning tires to impede the movement of security forces in the city center.
And the Nasiriyah oil field is still suspended from production, after the field administration decided to stop production for the sixth consecutive day, until the problem of the demonstrators who press and cross the streets leading to the field and prevent the movement of employees and workers in the field in search of job opportunities is solved.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered on the international traffic road to prevent the movement of trucks passing through the borders of Dhi Qar Governorate to other provinces, as part of a plan to expand the area of protest demonstrations in the province, which entered its fourth month in a row.
An eyewitness said that protesters set fire to two security vehicles in central Nasiriyah, while hundreds of them took control of major bridges in them. A witness told Reuters that more than 2,000 students from different universities poured into the sit-in camp in the southern city of Basra.
Police sources and eyewitnesses said that the protests also continued in Karbala, Najaf and Diwaniya, in defiance of security forces' attempts to break up sit-ins.
For its part, the Commission for Human Rights announced in a statement yesterday, the killing of 12 demonstrators in the capital, Baghdad, and Dhi Qar Governorate, and the injury of 230 demonstrators and security forces, since the renewed clashes, and indicated the arrest of 89 protesters.
The Commission said, it is continuing to document the demonstrations taking place in Baghdad and a number of governorates, expressing its regret and grave concern at the events that accompanied the demonstrations, which led to the deaths and injuries.
The Commission stated that it had documented the killing of nine demonstrators in Baghdad, and three in Dhi Qar Governorate, adding that it had documented the injury of 118 people in Baghdad from the demonstrators and security forces, in addition to 78 in Dhi Qar and 34 in Basra.
The Commission called on all parties to stop any form of violence and restraint, to keep the demonstrations peaceful, to avoid any collision that leads to casualties, and to cooperate with a view to protecting lives and public and private property, stressing the need to stop human rights violations that restrict freedom of opinion and expression And peaceful demonstration.
Al-Sadr cancels anti-American demonstrations
The office of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced that he canceled, yesterday, anti-US demonstrations in Iraq, to avoid what he described as "internal strife".
Sadr had earlier called for a demonstration in the capital, Baghdad, and other cities, against the American embassy, after the march organized by his supporters last Friday against the American military presence in Iraq. Baghdad - Reuters