14 Protesters killed, 865 Wounded in Karbala, Iraq Army Declares Curfew in Baghdad After Protests

At least 14 people were killed and 865 wounded overnight after Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters in the holy city of Kerbala, as medical and security sources  told.

Iraqis took to the streets for a fourth day on Monday in a second wave of protests against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government and a political elite they say are corrupt and out of touch. The total death toll since the unrest started on October 1 is now at least 250 people.

Amid the clashes, the Iraqi army on Monday announced it would impose an overnight curfew in the capital as students and schoolchildren joined spreading protests to demand an overhaul of the government.

Swathes of Iraq have been engulfed by demonstrations over unemployment and corruption this month that have evolved into demands for regime change.

The rallies have gathered despite temporary curfews, threats of arrest and violence that has left nearly 240 people dead, including five protesters in Baghdad on Monday.

The military said cars and foot traffic would be barred in the capital for six hours starting at midnight.

The move sparked concern security forces want to clear out main gathering places like the capital’s Tahrir Square, occupied by demonstrators for four consecutive nights.

Security forces there have relied heavily on tear gas to keep protesters from storming the Green Zone, which hosts government offices and foreign offices.

But protesters had otherwise been allowed to set up tents in Tahrir and ta­­­ken over multi-storey buildings there since Thursday in a marked departure from the response to protests during the first week of this month.

They were joined in the past 24 hours by a huge contingent of students, who joined despite stern warnings by the higher education minister and the prime minister’s office that they should “stay away.”

“No school, no classes, until the regime collapses!” boycotting students shouted on Monday in Diwaniyah, 180 kilometres (120 miles) south of the capital.

In Baghdad, demonstrators gathered on campuses and in Tahrir Square.

Either it resigns, or it gets ousted.” About 60 percent of Iraq’s 40-million-strong population is under the age of 25.

But youth unemployment stands at 25 percent and one in five people live below the poverty line, despite the vast oil wealth of OPEC’s second-largest crude producer.