Iraqi government seems powerless against protesters even as 'unknown' snipers take toll
For the seventh day in a row, protesters challenge the Iraqi government across Baghdad and the south; the death toll rises to nearly 120 as unidentified snipers pick off demonstrators.
A video of a fearless teenager performing a dance from the popular multiplayer online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds amid heavy bullets and smoke in eastern Baghdad seems to summarize what is happening with the Iraqi protests.
Thousands of young people, mostly teenagers, kept up demonstrations for the seventh day in a row. Nothing — not government promises, military threats, religious advice nor anything else — has been able to convince them to return home yet.
They have nothing to lose. They are jobless, feel humiliated due to Iraq’s weak position in the region, despair about the political system and have little hope for the future.
In such circumstances, it is not surprising to see the death toll rising significantly. On Oct. 7, at least 15 people were killed in a clash between security forces and protesters in eastern Baghdad, pushing the total number of the deaths in the protests to nearly 120, along with more than 6,000 injuries.
