Iraqi protesters set fire to government building in Basra


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BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Protesters on Wednesday burned the main government building in the southern city of Basra, security sources said.

Iraqi protesters stand on concrete walls during a protest near the government office building in Basra, Iraq, on September 5, 2018. REUTERS / Alaa al-Marjani

The protesters also blocked the road linking the oil hub of Basra to Baghdad to express their anger over power cuts, unemployment and corruption rooted in the country's long-neglected south, the Shia center of Iraq.

Earlier Wednesday, security forces sprayed tear gas and fired in an attempt to disperse protesters.

Protesters jostling the concrete walls of the government building in Basra, Iraq, on September 5, 2018. REUTERS / Alaa al-Marjani

The death of five protesters during clashes with security forces Tuesday added to the fury.

Security and health sources said 22 members of the security forces were injured in Tuesday's violence, some with a hand grenade.

On Wednesday, frustrations again focused on the provincial governorate building, where thousands of people gathered, throwing stones and trying to break concrete barriers.

The people of Basra say that the salt that infiltrates the water has made the inevitable and sent hundreds of people to the hospital. This is the evidence, they say, that infrastructure has been allowed to collapse in the part of Iraq that produces most of its oil wealth.

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The second largest city in Iraq, Basra, is a stronghold of Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric and former leader of an anti-American sectarian militia that has re-formed as an anti-corruption activist.

Public anger has increased at a time when politicians are struggling to form a new government after inconclusive legislative elections in May.

Sadr's block came at the head of the poll, tainted by allegations of corruption that forced the recount.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a Shiite religious leader from Iraq, expressed his support for the protests.

Report by Aref Mohammed; Written by Michael Georgy; Editing by Andrew Roche

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