Security forces deployed live ammunition and tear gas against demonstrators on Tuesday in a sit-in held in the port city of Umm Kasr in Iraq. At least four people were killed according to eyewitnesses, about a hundred more people were injured accordingly.
The operation of the port in Umm Kasr is severely limited because of the blockade that has been going on since Thursday. The action is part of the protests in Iraq since the beginning of October (read more here).
The Iraqi government is said to have paralyzed large parts of the Internet in the country, according to the organization NetBlocks. Only about 20 percent of users would have access, millions of people in Baghdad and other parts of the country cut off from the Internet, the organization said. In the course of this "almost complete shutdown" social networks and messenger services are no longer accessible. NetBlocks tracks internet access worldwide.
⚠️ Alert: Internet shut down again across #Iraq following brief 3.5 hour restoration; real-time network data show national connectivity currently at 30% of ordinary levels; incident ongoing #iraq_protests #KeepItOn
https://t.co/SeCyP2mj1T pic.twitter.com/Qx7Mdqs9pp
In Baghdad, at least four people were killed and more than 50 injured in clashes with security forces on Monday. Security forces used tear gas and live ammunition as protesters approached government buildings.
On Sunday, three demonstrators were killed in Kerbela. In total, more than 260 people were killed and more than 11,000 injured during the protests in the country.
UN Secretary-General "shocked" by dead in Iraq
UN Secretary-General António Guterres criticized the harsh intervention of Iraqi security forces against demonstrators. He was "shocked" by the many dead in protests in recent days, said his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric on Tuesday in New York. Since October, serious violations of human rights have been observed through the use of some deadly weapons.
"The people of Iraq or other places must be able to demonstrate freely and peacefully, and the security forces must hold back," Dujarric said. That protesters die is "completely unacceptable".