Security forces in eastern Iraq have opened fire on a group of demonstrators protesting the lack of basic services and killed at least three people, PressTV reported.
The clashes broke out after hundreds of protesters stormed the governor's headquarters in the eastern city of Kut in Wasit province, calling for the provincial governor to step down.
At least 55 people, including four policemen, were also injured in the violence.
According to police officials, private security guards opened fire after some of the protesters tried to force their way inside the governor's office.
But the shooting escalated the situation and made the protesters angrier, Kut police said.
Scores of protesters attacked the governor's office again, destroying the furniture inside, and then set the building on fire. Another group of demonstrators went to the governor's house and set it on fire.
"They burned all the rooms in the buildings and all the generators. They also burned the cars of the employees. We were able to take the deputy and the employees out the back door. Some of the employees were women, and they were choked by the fires", said a police official, who was in Kut at the time the violence, adding that the government forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Following the violence, more Iraqi army troops were dispatched to Kut, about 63 miles (110 km) south of capital Baghdad and a full curfew was imposed.
Protesters say Wasit's provincial governor, Latif Hamed, has failed to create jobs and increase the supply of electricity. They also accuse Hamed of corruption.
Hamed was not in the city when protesters attacked his office and his house.
...