Iraqi anti-government protests continue for 15 days running

Iraqi protesters continued their anti-government protests in Baghdad on Friday for the fifteenth day in a row.

 Security forces fired tear gas and threw stun grenades into crowds of protesters, some of whom wore helmets, on a main road in the middle of the Iraqi capital, sending demonstrators scattering, some wounded, Reuters reporters said.

 More than 260 people have been killed since the protests over a lack of jobs and services began in Baghdad on October 1 and quickly spread to southern provinces, according to police and medics.
Police, the military and paramilitary groups have used live gunfire against mostly unarmed protesters since the beginning of the unrest.

 Security forces shot dead at least six protesters in Baghdad on Thursday (November 7) and killed four others as they broke up a sit-in in the southern city of Basra, police and medic sources said.

The demonstrators, mostly unemployed youths, demand an overhaul of the political system and a corrupt ruling class which has dominated state institutions since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.