Basra protests build in Iraq as substandard services persist

As summer arrives in Iraq, a new wave of demonstrations is beginning in the south, possibly jeopardizing Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government.
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Iraqi followers of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wave national flags and raise protest signs as they demonstrate in the southern city of Basra, Iraq, May 24, 2019. - HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP/Getty Images
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Mustafa Saadoun
@SaadoonMustafa
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Basra is once again at the center of demonstrations in Iraq, as citizens in the country's southern oil hub protest corruption, nonexistent or poor services that compound dangerous health conditions and the prime minister's failure to install a Cabinet and get on with government business.

For the second week in a row, demonstrations continued in Basra on Friday, June 29. Security forces used live bullets to disperse the protesters. No casualties were reported.

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