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BAGHDAD, Oct. 4-- The anti-government protests in Iraq continued Friday as the death toll rose to more than 40 during the past four days. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces. They voiced their anger that after two years of defeating the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants, millions of the population are still living in worsening situations in the oil-rich country. The protesters are demanding for better living, job opportunities and basic services. They blame the deterioration on what they see widespread corruption and incompetence of the government. In Baghdad, hundreds of demonstrators on Friday gathered on the streets and neighborhoods near the Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad, and tried to cross the nearby al-Jumhuriya bridge to reach the once heavily-fortified Green Zone, which houses the main government offices and some foreign embassies, a witness told Xinhua. The security forces clashed with the demonstrators and managed to disperse them with firing tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition, forcing the protesters to withdraw to surrounding streets, the source said. Sporadic clashes occurred during the day in several other neighborhoods across the capital when the security forces confronted dozens of protesters who defied the curfew to rally with protesters from nearby neighborhoods. As dozens of protesters failed to rally for a huge demonstration, many of them blocked the main streets at their neighborhoods with burned tires and chanted anti-government slogans, prompting the security forces to disperse them by firing tear gas and bullets. | 
