Iraq anti-govt protests turn violent; 21 killed, over 1700 injured

Baghdad [Iraq], Oct 26 (ANI): At least 21 people were killed and over 1,700 sustained injuries in the anti-government protests that have gripped Iraq after a three-week hiatus, the country's Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.
Thousands of protests thronged the streets of Baghdad and other cities, calling for an overhaul of the country's political system and an end to official corruption amid growing anger over chronically high unemployment and poor public services, reported Al Jazeera.
The Iraqi police fired rubber bullets and volleys of tear gas canisters to disperse the protestors. The security forces had been deployed in the streets of Baghdad on Thursday night amid reports of planned protests.
"We want the government to step down and for the political system to be completely revamped," a protestor in his twenties said. "The whole political elite needs to change because the current system has done nothing for us."
"We want a new constitution. Without that nothing can change. It is the constitution that has created the sectarian crisis we've lived in for years," said a lawyer, requesting anonymity.
The protests were a resumption of anti-government demonstrations that started in the first week of October.
Hours before the protests resumed on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, in a televised speech on Thursday night, said that the people would be free to exercise their right to demonstrate, but warned violence would not be tolerated.
The prime minister stressed a government collapse would drag Iraq into further turmoil. He reiterated the reforms announced by the government in the aftermath of the earlier protests, including a cabinet reshuffle, job opportunities for unemployed youth, and the establishment of a new court to try corrupt officials. (ANI)