BAGHDAD (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2018) The number of injured in violent riots in the Iraqi city of Basra has increased to 45 and at least two people were killed, a spokesman of the Iraqi Health Ministry Seif Badra said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.
On Friday, local media reported about one person killed and 11 injured.
"As a result of protests in Basra today, on Friday, two demonstrators were killed, 45 people were injured, including two members of the security forces," the statement said.
According to the spokesman, 21 people received bullet wounds, one suffered from suffocation and 23 received other injuries.
On Friday, demonstrators stormed one of the presidential palaces in Basra amid ongoing mass protests against lack of basic services and corruption.
The protesters torched one of the four presidential palaces in Basra after attacking the Iranian consulate on Friday and burned offices of pro-Iranian political parties on Thursday, local media reported.
Previous protests in Basra broke out in June before spreading to other areas of southern Iraq. Discontent has been sparked by problems with electricity and water supplies that have been exacerbated by scorching heat this summer. The government had formed a special commission to deal with the demands, pledging to allocate some $17 million to fixing electricity and water supplies. The promise resulted in protests subsiding before reigniting on Monday.
