www.albawaba.com
January 13, 2004
At least seven Iraqis wounded during job protest, two Iraqis killed in firefight
At least seven Iraqis were injured when a protest against unemployment in southern Iraq turned violent.

In southern city of Kut, some 100 protestors tossed grenades towards Ukrainian soldiers stationed around city hall offices who then fired off warning shots to disperse the crowd, AFP reported.

"Seven wounded were admitted to the emergency room -- five protestors and two female bystanders," said Dr. Taha ali Abdul Hussein. Six suffered bullet wounds, including one of the women.

On Monday a similar riot in Kut, some 90 miles southeast of the capital, was eventually brought under control by Ukrainian troops who fired in the air after explosives were thrown at them by some demonstrators, Iraqi police official Lt. Zafer Wedad told The AP.

Four Iraqi policemen, a Ukrainian soldier and a demonstrator were wounded on Monday. It all began when around 400 protesters marched on a government building to demand jobs. The demonstrators reportedly threw bricks at the building and trashed a post office, Wedad said.

Kut was the second Shiite Muslim city, which was hit by job riots, stressing mounting anger among Iraqi people about the difficulties they face under US occupation.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi Civil Defence Corps soldier and an alleged attacker were killed in a firefight after security officials found a weapons cache in a vegetable truck, the US Army said, according to AFP.

"As the ICDC were securing the contraband the drivers threw a grenade," killing the ICDC man and slightly wounding another one Monday in Tarmiyah, west of Baghdad, spokeswoman Major Jossyln Aberle said. The ICDC responded, and one attacker was killed, one injured and three captured, she said. (Albawaba.com)


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