Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live rounds during clashes with anti-government protesters overnight and Monday morning in Baghdad, killing three and wounding dozens of demonstrators, officials said.
Separately, three katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq's government and home to several foreign embassies, but caused no injuries or damage, two security officials said.
The rockets landed close to the US embassy in the Green Zone, and are the latest in several similar attacks. As in the other incidents, the perpetrators were not immediately known, but the strike comes during a sensitive time as the US and Iran step back from taking further escalating action on Iraqi soil.
Two rockets fell in the Green Zone on Jan. 8.
Demonstrators have feared their movement would be eclipsed by the geopolitical storm brewing between neighboring Iran and the United States.
A US drone strike near Baghdad's airport on January 3 killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, prompting Iranian rocket strikes on an Iraqi base housing US troops and triggering fears of a wider conflict.
Iraqi political figures have since ramped up their calls for foreign forces -- including some 5,200 US troops -- to leave the country.
In Baghdad, the tear gas and live rounds were fired near Sinak Bridge and also the nearby Tayaran Square, which have been the scene of violence in recent days, medical and security officials said.
A gunshot wound killed one protester, while a second died after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister, medical officials said. A third later succumbed to his injuries, the officials said.
A statement from the Baghdad Operations Command said fourteen officers were wounded by a group of rock-throwing “inciters of violence” while trying to secure the entrance to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest movement.
Among the dead was Yousif Sattar, 21, a local journalist covering the protest movement, one medical official and an activist said.
“Despite these actions our forces continued to exercise restraint and follow up on the security duties assigned to them,” said the statement.
A security official said at least nine arrests have been made so far after the National Security Council authorized security forces to arrest demonstrators seen blocking main thoroughfares and roundabouts.
The UN envoy to Iraq, meanwhile, urged Iraqi political elites to resume pushing for reforms and for protests to remain peaceful.
“Any steps taken so far to address the people’s concerns will remain hollow, if they are not completed," said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in a statement issued by the UN. “Violent suppression of peaceful protesters is intolerable and must be avoided at all costs."
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, protesters blocked the highway linking the city to the southern oil-rich province of Basra. At least six protesters were wounded when an unknown gunmen fired at them from a speeding car, a medical official said.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
In the protest hotspot of Diwaniyah, protesters shut key roads both inside and leading out of the city.
"The procrastination of the government and the political class for more than three months now has prompted us to take escalatory steps to pressure them to meet our demands," Mohammad Faeq, a 28-year-old protester, told AFP.
On Sunday, protesters in Baghdad and southern Iraq burned tires, blocking main streets. Clashes in Baghdad wounded at least 27 people. Iraqi activists gave the government a week's deadline to act on their demands for sweeping political reforms or said they would up the pressure with new demonstrations.
The uprising began on Oct. 1 when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to decry rampant government corruption, poor public services and a scarcity of jobs. Protesters are demanding an end to Iraq's sectarian political system, alongside early elections and the stepping aside of its ruling elite.
The anti-government movement had scored several successes before the US strike diverted public attention. In December, pressure from demonstrations lead the country’s main religious authority Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, to withdraw support for the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi, prompting the prime minister's resignation.
Later that month, lawmakers passed a key new electoral law that would give voters more say in who's elected to office.
But bickering between rival political factions has set back talks over the selection of a new premier. Abdul Mahdi's appointment was the product of a provisional agreement between rival parliamentary blocs led by the influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and another led by Hadi al-Ameri.
Protesters worry that a mass rally to be organized Friday by Sadr to demand the ouster of US troops could drown them out.
Last week, Sadr urged Iraqis to hold "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations".
While protesters have criticized the US, they have directly accused Iran of hindering Iraq politically and economically.
Tehran holds major sway in Iraq, building up close ties with a variety of political and military players over decades.
Protesters say Iran's overreach has contributed to rampant corruption and poor services.
The World Bank says one in five people lives below the poverty line in Iraq, which is OPEC's second-biggest crude producer.
Since the protests first erupted in October, at least 500 have died under fire from security forces. Authorities do not provide updated casualty figures.
