Protesters set fire to government building in southern Iraq

BAGHDAD

Protesters set fire to a government building Monday in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, according to security sources.

A group of masked men took to the streets of the city center of Nasiriyah to stage demonstrations, the sources said.

The demonstrators then set fire to the governor's office with Molotov cocktails, they added.

A curfew was declared in the city over the incident.

Nasiriyah, located 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, is mired in poverty and plagued by poor infrastructure and joblessness, especially among young people.

It was the main stronghold of the anti-corruption protest movement.

In 2019, mass anti-government protests erupted which lasted for months and forced then Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi to step down.

On Oct. 10, 2021, snap parliamentary elections were held, during which supporters of prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr emerged as the biggest winners with 73 seats in parliament.