As protests continue in Iraq .. Curfew in Najaf after storming the Iranian consulate

The Euphrates Central Command announced a curfew in Najaf on the back of hundreds of angry demonstrators storming the Iranian consulate building and setting it on fire, as protests continue in Iraqi cities to demand the overthrow of the regime.

Police and civil defense sources said the protesters entered the consulate compound late on Wednesday and set the whole building ablaze. Police dispersed the protesters with tear gas canisters that injured about 50 protesters.

According to Agence France-Presse, hundreds of protesters chanted "Iran by land" from within the diplomatic compound.

The army forces closed all entrances and exits of the city of Najaf and isolated from the rest of the country, a security source told Anatolia that the army forces do not allow cars to enter or exit the city, and this procedure will be applied until calm the tension in the city.

The Iranian consulate in Karbala was angry with demonstrators earlier this month, but Iraqi security forces retaliated, killing four people.

Two demonstrators were shot dead yesterday in Baghdad, while large plumes of black smoke rose along roads not far from holy places and government departments in southern Iraq, where protests calling for the "overthrow of the regime" continue two months ago.

Clashes took place at al-Ahrar bridge in central Baghdad, where security forces behind concrete barricades fired bullets and tear gas at the protesters, according to an AFP photographer.

Many cities in the south have been paralyzed by demonstrators blocking roads and closing government departments and schools.

According to police and medics, authorities shot dead more than 300 people in an attempt to quell the unrest.

Errors
In turn, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi admitted that there were human rights mistakes and said that the attacks could not be silent, warning of the collapse of the regime.

In this context, the US embassy in Baghdad said that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milli, met with the Iraqi Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Army in Baghdad.

The statement pointed out that Milli condemned the killing and kidnapping of demonstrators and activists, and threats to freedom of expression, reiterated Washington's support for the demands of the Iraqi people in a free, independent and sovereign Iraq away from corruption and what he called the malicious foreign influence.

The US official's visit comes a day after a visit by the US Deputy Defense Secretary and his meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister to discuss the same.

Demonstrators have been demanding since October 1 to reform the political system and change the entire political class that has ruled the country for the past 16 years and consider it responsible for the evaporation of more than $ 450 billion, according to official figures.