Iraq protests take extreme turn with police firing tear gas and grenades

 Anti-government protests in Iraq have seen a never-ending curve and now have grown to the extent of police resorting to extreme measures.

These protests have been going on for over a year and a few days ago the protests marked their one-year anniversary and on the second day of the show, the police clashed with dozens of protesters and fired tear gas in Baghdad.

The police took this step when some of the protesters started burning tires and hurling rocks on the strategic Al-Jumhuriyah bridge across the Tigris River, an area that leads to the famous green zone. According to the photographs released by AFP, the police can also be seen using stun grenades.

As per reports, the green zone is only separated by a concrete wall from where the protests are being held in Tahrir square. Iraqi reports cannot enter the green zone where the parliament, government offices, and the United States embassy is situated.

Iraq has seen the largest protest ever since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. These anti-government protests have been going on since October last year. The demonstrations are mainly capitalized by the South-Shia population who are standing against corruption and demand basic services and employment opportunities.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Tahrir square and chanted unitedly, “Our blood, our souls, we sacrifice for you Iraq,” on Monday.

People gathered in the South of the capital to mark one year of the anti-government protests dubbed as the ‘October revolution’. Last year the whole population demanded the overthrow of the government and the ruling class and accused them of bad governance and corruption. This year again, these protests have ignited the same requirements.

The protest was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic but it had already done a lot of damage as far as human life is concerned. In a span of a year, around 600 protesters were killed and 30,000 were injured. It was only when the news of 40 protesters being killed in a single day broke, Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi resigned last November