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Coronavirus curfew fails to clear Iraqi protest squares

Despite a curfew and other restrictions imposed by the Iraqi government to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Iraq’s major protest squares remain packed with demonstrators.
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Anti-government protests that began in October and raged through Iraq for months were officially suspended in late March as part of efforts against the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic. Major squares, however, remain occupied. Some protesters say they have to stay amid continued assassinations of activists.

Umm Abbass, a well-known female activist in Nasiriyah, was killed on April 5 when militias allegedly stormed her home at dawn.

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