Last Saturday, Iraqi police used tear gas against protesters positioned at the Ahrar and Sinak bridges in Baghdad, resulting in the injury of some 30 people.
Major confrontations broke out between the riot police and the protesters before calm returned to the situation. Following this, the security forces deployed near the two bridges of the Iraqi capital.
Protests erupted in Baghdad and in several provinces in the south over unemployment, government corruption and the lack of basic services — such as electricity and clean water.
Many Iraqis blame the current political parties in power for their economic hardship and the scale of the protests, believed to be the biggest since the fall of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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