4 protesters, policeman killed in anti-gov't protests in Iraq

Four people and a policeman were killed and more than 33 others wounded on Wednesday when hundreds of angry protesters broke into the headquarters of Dhi-Qar provincial government and set the building on fire, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The troubling situation comes on the second day of protests against corruption, lack of basic services and insufficient jobs.

"Local hospitals received the bodies of four protesters and a police officer killed in the violence that flared up in the city of Nasriyah," a source from the Dhi-Qar health department told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

He said that some 33 protesters were admitted to the hospitals for treatment from injuries and suffocation by tear gas.

The elite counter-terrorism troops were deployed in Nasriyah city after the riot police and other security forces lost control of the situation in the streets, according to local media reports.

Abdul Hassan Dawood, head of Dhi-Qar media office, told Xinhua that security authorities decided to impose a curfew in the province from 8:00 p.m. local time (5:00 GMT) until further notice.

The demonstrations also took place in Baghdad and other provinces as protesters rallied outside government buildings before they broke into some of them.

Hundreds of protesters are also gathering outside local government buildings in the provinces of Wasit and Qadisiyah in an attempt to storm their way inside, while in Missan province the demonstrators flounced into government facilities and headquarters of several political parties, according to videotape aired by al-Sharqiyah channel.

The official Iraqiya channel said that protesters broke into the government building in the city of Hilla, Babel province, some 100 km south of Baghdad.

The demonstrators took to the streets in the provinces of Diyala, Muthanna, Basra and Najaf, in addition to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iraqiya said.