Six dead in blasts in Iraqi capital amid deadly protests
Six people were killed in near-simultaneous blasts across Iraq's capital late Tuesday, medics and a security source said, amid deadly anti-government protests that have rocked Baghdad and the Shiite-majority south for weeks.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the three explosions, which were the first such violence in the capital after months of relative calm.
The blasts were caused by two explosives-laden motorcycles and a roadside bomb and hit three Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, according to medical and security sources.
Around a dozen people were wounded and taken to Baghdad hospitals already treating scores of demonstrators hurt earlier in the day in protests.
Rallies erupted in early October across Baghdad and southern Iraq, leaving more than 350 people dead and around 15,000 wounded.
In the Shia holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, one person was killed as protests escalated into chaotic "clashes" with security forces, a medical source told AFP.
There were no immediate details about the victim's identity or cause of death, but the medic said the toll was likely to rise further.
AFP's correspondent saw riot police fire live rounds both into the air and directly at crowds of teenage protesters with at least one demonstrator suffering a bullet wound to the head.
In one face-off under a bridge, teenagers threw rocks at riot police trucks, bursting into song when the vehicles screeched away.
Clashes also erupted in Baghdad, where security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to keep demonstrators away from Al-Ahrar bridge, which leads to government buildings on the west bank of the river Tigris.
One protester died after being shot by a rubber bullet and 18 were wounded, a medical source said.
A body bearing a rubber bullet wound was also found underneath Al-Ahrar on Tuesday, but it was unclear when the person had died, the medic said.
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