Baghdad: Death toll in lethal gunfire increases to 23, say police

Armed men attacked the main protest site of Baghdad on the night of December 6 increasing the death toll to 23, as per reports. Reportedly it is the deadliest incident to hit the capital in weeks. According to the reports, more than 127 others were wounded by gunfire and stabbings targetting the anti-government protestors near Tahrir Square. The death count includes three members of the police. Thousands of protestors have occupied the Central Square and three nearby bridges which leads to the city's Green Zone for weeks urging for complete uprooting of the current political system. The security personnel said that they could not identify the gunmen who attacked the demonstrators.

READ: Iraq Protestors Burn Shrine Entrance In Holy City Despite PM Resignation

Protestors burn shrine's entrance

Meanwhile, the protestors of Iraq have burned the entrance of a shrine in the southern holy city of Najaf on November 30. The security forces had to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. The demonstrators shared a video of a doorway to the Hakim shrine set on fire as protestors cheered and filmed it on their cell phones. The incident occurred during one of the deadliest weeks of Iraq's anti-government unrest that erupted last month. Widespread protests continued in the southern city of Nassiriya where protesters had surrounded a police station in Baghdad last month. The violence escalated after the Iranian consulate in Najaf was set on fire on Wednesday.

READ: Iraqi PM Formally Submits Resignation Amid More Violence

Protestors burns tires, gheraoed police station

Violent protestors burned tires and gheraoed a police station in the Southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya on November 30, according to the reports. Iraqi officials said that two protestors have been shot dead and at least 26 wounded in Baghdad and southern Iraq in continued unrest. Adel Abdul Mahdi submitted his resignation on December 1 to parliament after the government faced two months of violent widespread protests. He resigned after the country's senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric forced the lawmakers to reconsider their support for a government that has been facing weeks of deadly anti-establishment unrest. 

READ: Iraq's Top Shia Cleric Warns Against Foreign Influence In PM Election

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