Basra protests spark nationwide anger in Iraq as clampdown starts

Protesters burned tires during a demonstration in Basra, some 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad on Friday, July 13. They were demanding services and jobs in the oil-rich province. Officially, 10.8 percent of Iraqis are jobless, while youth unemployment is double that. For many, politicians' pledges of Iraqi oil for Iraqis ring hollow.

Protesters in front of the provincial council building in Basra on Sunday. Protests boiled over last week when security forces opened fire. Such demonstrations in the provincial capital are not unusual in the scorching summer weather but this year rallies have spread to other provinces.

The protests soon spread from Basra to other parts of the country including the capital, Baghdad. Iraqis with national flags demonstrate here in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on July 14 after two demonstrators were killed in southern Iraq. In the city's northwestern Shula neighborhood, people chanted "Iran, out out! Baghdad is free!" and "The people want to overthrow the regime."

Iraqi riot police stop protesters storming the provincial council building during a demonstration in Basra on Sunday, July 15. Authorities have put security forces on high alert. At least 30 people were reported wounded on Saturday night in the central holy city of Karbala, where police fired into the air as demonstrators threw stones at them.

Riot police prevented protesters from storming the provincial council building during a demonstration in Basra on Sunday. Police were reported chasing protesters down main roads and alleys following demonstrations in the city and near the local oil fields. The oil sector accounts for 89 percent of the state budget and 99 percent of export revenues, but only one percent of jobs.