Iraq: Two protesters killed in Sulaymaniyah protests

By Idiris Okuduci, Rewa Mahmood Hasan and Hawkar Amin

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (AA) – Two protesters, including a child, were killed on Tuesday in demonstrations staged in northern Iraq over the deteriorating economic conditions, according to local sources.

Security forces opened fire on protesters in Sulaymaniyah’s Tekye village and Seyid Sadik district, the sources said.

According to the sources, clashes between security forces and protesters left one person dead, and four other people injured in Tekye village.

Separately, a child died from police fire in Seyid Sadık district.

Angry demonstrators set fire to the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Halabja province.

No official statement has yet been made by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) regarding the incidents.

Two protesters were killed on Monday in demonstrations held in the Sulaymaniyah province.

Earlier on Monday, hundreds of angry demonstrators set fire to the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the Islamic Group amid economic woes.

The KRG has been struggling to pay the salaries of civil servants since April when Baghdad stopped paying them as a result of disputes over oil wealth management and the distribution of its revenues, as well as revenues from border crossings.

The number of the KRG civil servants is estimated at 1.2 million, receiving total salaries of $700 million per month.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz