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The Iraqi government held an emergency meeting Saturday after protests against high unemployment and the lack of basic services in the nation's capital, Baghdad.
The National Security Council was summoned urgently under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Haidar. Abadi and decided to cut off Internet access in the capital to prevent unrest from spreading further, reported the Anadolu agency.
Hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed government buildings in the south of the country Friday and occupied Najaf International Airport, demanding better services, job opportunities and the end of alleged Iranian interference. Against corruption and bad governance, demonstrators clashed with security forces in several provinces, including Maysan, Dhi Qar, Basra, Najaf and Karbala.
At least one person was killed and 15 wounded in Maysan when Iraqi forces fired on protesters. and set fire to office buildings used by the Islamic Party Dawa of Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, the al-Badr organization backed by Iran and the party of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council.
According to the Iraqi Al-Sumaria news website, 25 riot police were also injured while they were trying to prevent the protesters from storming the house of governor in the province of Dhi Qar.
Protesters were gathered near his residence and hundreds of protesters also cut a road leading to the seaport of Umm Qasr, in the Basra province, the largest shipping port in the world. Iraq in the Arabian Gulf
. Earlier, a group of protesters stormed the Najaf International Airport, with videos posted on social media showing protesters lighting fires on the tarmac in front of the facility.
Entry to Najaf Airport #pt pic.twitter.com/MDHJaoviEA
– Hayder al-Khoei (@Hayder_alKhoei) July 13, 2018
"The people are hungry, there is no water, no electricity, "Abdullah Khaled, 29, told AFP.
On Saturday, state television reported that the protest had disrupted flights inside and outside the travel center, but that air traffic had resumed since.
Power cuts exacerbated a stifling heat wave. Celsius these last days.
The region It is home to the oil fields that account for the vast majority of the more than three million barrels of oil that Iraq exports each day.
Still, it remains underdeveloped and has suffered from chronic power outages, poor water quality and uncollected waste. "If they do not create jobs and do not improve services such as water and electricity, we will close Basra and oil production," said Mohammed Jabbar, 29. , graduated from an unemployed college.
High Unemployment
The demonstrations, which started this week in Basra, spread after Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the supreme spiritual leader of Shia Muslims in Iraq, expressed his solidarity with the protesters . [19659004″Cen'estpasjusteetiln'estjamaisacceptablequecetteprovincegénéreusesoitl'unedesrégionslesplusmisérablesd'Irak”adéclaréAbdelMahdial-KarbalailereprésentantdugrandayatollahAlial-SistanilorsdesprièresduvendrediàKarbala19659004] Karbal He urged "the federal and local government to seriously address the demands of citizens," while calling on protesters to refrain from any violence.
Prime Minister Abadi vows to rebuild the Iraqi economy devastated by years of conflict, Officially, 10.8% of Iraqis are unemployed, while youth unemployment is twice as high in one country where 60% of the population is under 24 years old.
Iraq is the The oil sector accounts for 89% of the state budget and 99% of Iraq's export earnings, but only 1% of jobs, L & # Iraq is currently in political limbo as the country seeks to form a new government after the surprise victory of populist leader Muqtada al-Sadr has seen long-standing political figures driven away by voters
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| Protesters burned tires and blocked the road to the city of Basra Thursday [Essam al-Sudani/Reuters] |
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