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Dozens of local residents on Tuesday staged an open-ended sit-in in Iraq’s southern city of Basra to protest what they describe as the government’s failure to deal with worsening water and environmental pollution.
At the sit-in, which was held in Basra’s Al-Tiran Square, protester Rafed al-Kenani told Anadolu Agency that the sit-in was organized after numerous local residents suffered temporary poisoning after drinking tainted tap water.
Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources recently reported that the percentage of dissolved salts had recently reached 7,500 tds (total dissolved solids) in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, Basra’s main source of drinking water.
Six Sunni tribal fighters (Hashd al-Ashaeri) were killed Wednesday, and another 30 people injured, in a suicide attack in Iraq’s Saladin province north of Baghdad, according to a local police source.“A suicide bomber detonated his explosive device at a checkpoint manned by [pro-government] Hashd al-Ashaeri fighters… in the town of Shirqat north of provincial capital Tikrit,” Police Lieutenant Salahuddin al-Jabouri told Anadolu Agency.Although no group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, al-Jabouri pointed the finger at the Daesh terrorist group.Last year, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but destroyed following three years of conflict with the Iraqi army and a U.S.-led international coalition.The notorious terrorist group, however, still appears to maintain a limited presence in certain parts of the country.Iraqi Federal Court approves parliamentary vote resultsProtesters in Iraq's Basra decry murder of demonstratorPompeo discusses Baghdad-Erbil issues with PMs
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According to the World Health Organization, drinking water should not exceed 1,200 tds.
Last Thursday, Iraq’s state-run human rights commission acknowledged that thousands of Basra residents had suffered temporary poisoning after drinking tainted water.
Since early July, Iraq’s Shia-majority southern and central provinces have been rocked by popular protests, which at one point spread to capital Baghdad.
Dozens of Iraqis on Thursday staged a sit-in in the southern, oil-rich city of Basra to protest the reported death of a protester -- and the injury of several others -- at the hands of security forces.Within the past 48 hours, Iraqi security forces forcibly dispersed two demonstrations in Basra -- one near the West Qurna 2 Oilfield and another in the city’s Ezz al-Din Salim district.According to an Iraqi military source, the protest dispersals left at least one demonstrator dead and another 20 in police custody.Protester Rafed al-Kanaani told Anadolu Agency that protesters had set up tents outside the governor’s office on Wednesday, where they announced the launch of an open-ended sit-in “to protest police heavy-handedness and the government’s apparent unwillingness to meet our demands”.“Security forces are using teargas and heavy ammunition against unarmed demonstrators,” he said.Iraq’s state-run Human Rights Commission, meanwhile, has opened an investigation into the recent violence.In a statement, commission member Fadhil al-Gharrawi said he had received reports of arbitrary arrests being made in Basra, going on to assert that more than 20 protesters had recently been detained.Popular protests erupted in Iraq’s Shia-majority southern provinces last month and have since spread to capital Baghdad.Demonstrators demand improved public services, more job opportunities and an end to perceived government corruption.Iraqi court sentences Daesh militant to deathIraqi forces uncover Daesh tunnels near Mosul
Protesters in Iraq's Basra decry murder of demonstrator
Demonstrators demand improved public utilities, including water and electricity, more employment opportunities, and an end to alleged government corruption.
Meanwhile, negotiations over the outlines of Iraq’s next government remain underway between the country’s leading political parties and blocs following hotly-disputed parliamentary polls held in May.