After the widespread demonstrations and dozens of deaths .. The Iraqi government sacks a thousand employees because of corruption

The number of people killed in demonstrations in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and a number of provinces rose to 29 in the past two days, while the number of injured increased to more than 1,100 people, including security elements, according to the Office of Human Rights.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent in Baghdad that the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption in Iraq decided to dismiss 1,000 government employees on charges related to corruption cases.

The media office of the Iraqi Prime Minister that the employees affected by the resolution work in different degrees of employment, and in a number of state institutions, has been interpreted as an attempt by the government to ease the anger of protesters.

The reporter said that Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi began to communicate with "peaceful" demonstrators to discuss their demands and how to respond to them.

Continuing demonstrations
Meanwhile, witnesses said that thousands of young people demonstrated in central Baghdad on Thursday evening, despite the curfew announced by the Prime Minister, which took effect since 5 am.

The sources added that the security forces succeeded on Thursday in preventing the access of the demonstrators to the yards where they demonstrated in the past two days, prompting them to gather in other areas.

There were nightly clashes between protesters and security forces in Baghdad over their access to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where government departments and embassies of many countries, most notably the US, are concentrated.

Eyewitnesses reported that four people were killed in shooting during demonstrations in the city of Nasiriyah (southern Iraq) this evening.

Local sources also said that three demonstrators were killed today during protests in the city of Diwaniya (southern Iraq), after which the authorities announced a curfew in the city.

Yesterday, local and human rights sources reported that 12 demonstrators and one policeman were killed during protests in the southern cities of Amara and Nasiriyah.

Food storage
After the government announced a curfew in Baghdad and a number of other cities; Iraqis rushed to the markets on Thursday to buy food, water and other goods in order to store them for fear of worsening things in the country in the coming days.

In a related development, the official Bahrain News Agency reported that Manama called on its citizens not to travel to Iraq at the present time due to security conditions, and the Bahraini Foreign Ministry called on all Bahraini citizens in Iraq "to the need to leave immediately, in order to ensure their security and safety."

Earlier, Iran announced the closure of two border crossings with Iraq, and a senior Iranian official said that other crossings remained open before the arrival season of Iranian visitors to Shiite shrines in Iraq.