Iraq: Insurgents attack police after police fire on protesters
SAMAWA, Iraq, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at Iraqi security forces in the southern town of Samawa on Monday, a day after violent protests erupted over poor government services, witnesses said.
The violence is worrying for the government because Samawa is a usually calm Shi'ite town in a region relatively free of the bloodshed gripping other parts of Iraq. Anger over a lack of jobs and problems with the power and water supply have sparked anger in many parts of Iraq.
On Sunday, police opened fire on a crowd of protesters gathered outside the governor's office, killing one person and wounding about 40, police and hospital sources said.
Mohammed al-Ghazawi, a representative of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, told Reuters protests would continue until the local governor resigned and public services in Samawa improved.
Sadr's Mehdi Army militia rose up against U.S. and British forces last year. Link
db: Firing on protesters - hello? It's a democracy aint it? Oh, my mistake.
The violence is worrying for the government because Samawa is a usually calm Shi'ite town in a region relatively free of the bloodshed gripping other parts of Iraq. Anger over a lack of jobs and problems with the power and water supply have sparked anger in many parts of Iraq.
On Sunday, police opened fire on a crowd of protesters gathered outside the governor's office, killing one person and wounding about 40, police and hospital sources said.
Mohammed al-Ghazawi, a representative of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, told Reuters protests would continue until the local governor resigned and public services in Samawa improved.
Sadr's Mehdi Army militia rose up against U.S. and British forces last year. Link
db: Firing on protesters - hello? It's a democracy aint it? Oh, my mistake.
posted by exoplanet at 7:51 PM
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