Baghdad - At least eight people were killed
and 25 wounded in new clashes between protesters and police in
eastern Baghdad on Sunday, police and medical sources said.
The clashes were in Sadr city, a sprawling residential
district of the Iraqi capital, and added to a death toll of more
than 100 people killed in less than a week of protests over
corruption and unemployment.
Police, backed by the army, used live rounds and tear gas to
disperse the crowds at two separate locations in Sadr City,
police said.
The protests pose the biggest security and political
challenge for Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government since
it took power a year ago, and have revived fears of a new spiral
of violence that could suck in influential militia groups.
Two years after oil-producing Iraq declared the defeat of
Islamic State, security has improved but corruption is rampant,
wrecked infrastructure has not been rebuilt and jobs are scarce.