Iraqi students stage protest to mark 2019 killings

Iraqi students staged a demonstration on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of mass protests that erupted in 2019.

Students carrying Iraqi flags and anti-government banners marched toward Tahrir Square and the freedom monument in central Baghdad.

They demanded justice for the hundreds of protesters estimated to have been killed by security forces during last year's protests, and held up pictures of some of those who died.

They also called for an end to Iraq's sectarian political system, along with early elections.

Thursday's march passed off peacefully.

In October 2019, mass anti-government protests erupted in Baghdad and across Iraq's predominantly Shiite south as tens of thousands of angry Iraqi youth took to the streets to decry rampant government corruption, poor services, including electricity, and unemployment.

The leaderless, economically driven protests targeted Iraq's entire political class and called for the overhaul of the sectarian system established after the 2003 US-led invasion.

At least 700 people died under fire from Iraqi security forces who used live rounds and tear gas to disperse crowds.

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