At least 19 people were killed on Saturday:
Protests continued for a fifth straight day across Iraq, mostly in Baghdad and the Shi’ite provinces to the south. The Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights reported a total of 93 deaths so far, and nearly 4,000 wounded. Jerusalem Post is reporting 105 killed. A security service source reported that eight soldiers have been killed along with 1,037 wounded. The United Nations has called for an end to the violence. Besides the obvious chaos, constraints on Internet access have made verification of the casualties difficult at best.
On Saturday, the Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, Mohamad al-Halbousi, met with what is described as representatives of the demonstrators. The Council was to have assembled on Saturday, but was boycotted by three political blocs that accused the government of having no set agenda for the meeting. Members of Moqtada al-Sadr’s bloc were absent a day after the cleric called on the government to resign.
Nasariya continues to be a focus of violence and large protests. Rioters set ablaze six political party offices before being fired upon by security forces. One of the offices belonged to the Badr Organization.
On Saturday morning the curfew was lifted in Baghdad, where over a dozen demonstrators were killed, and 40 more were wounded. Focal point Tahrir Square remains closed to cars. A witness claimed that army units tried to stop police from firing on protesters, but the military eventually retreated. Masked gunmen attacked several media outlets, including the offices of NRT, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hadath, Fallouja TV, Al-Ghad Al-Araby, SkyNews Arabia, Al-Sharqiya and Dijlah TV.
Five people were killed in Dhi Qar province, and another 40 were wounded.
In Diwaniya, another group demonstrators marched on government buildings. One protester was killed. Another 17 were wounded.
