Iraqi protester killed

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi protester was killed in Baghdad on Tuesday, medics said, as angry young people reignited a three-month-old protest movement by shutting roads to pressure authorities to implement long-awaited reforms.

The demonstrator died after being hit by a tear gas canister on one of the main highways in east Baghdad. Protesters had been trying to shut down the road with burning tyres but clashed with security forces, who fired live rounds and tear gas to break up the crowd. Eight protesters were also treated for tear gas inhalation, medics said.

On Monday, three demonstrators were killed in the capital. Security forces have relied heavily on tear gas to confine protesters to Baghdad’s Tahrir Ssuare, but human rights groups have accused them of improperly firing the canisters directly into crowds at point-blank range, piercing protesters’ skulls and chests. Anti-government rallies have rocked Iraq since October but had thinned out in recent weeks amid spiralling tensions between Baghdad’s key allies Tehran and Washington.