BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Friday ordered to lift the curfew in the Iraqi capital Baghdad from Saturday dawn, though anti-government protests continued in the city.
Abdul Mahdi, also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, ordered to lift the curfew starting from 5:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) on Saturday morning, the state-run Iraqiya channel reported.
On Thursday, Abdul Mahdi declared a curfew in Baghdad until further notice after two days of violent protests in the capital as well as in central and southern provinces.
Iraqis have been holding protests and clashing with security forces in Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces since Tuesday, voicing their anger that after two years of defeating the Islamic State (IS) militants, millions of the population are still living in worsening conditions 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.
After four successive days of protests, the death toll rose to 41, according to the figures provided by Ali al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights.
Al-Bayati said that "a total of 38 civilians and three security members were killed in the protests, while 1,952 were wounded, including 363 security members."
Abdul Mahdi imposed a curfew in Baghdad starting from 5:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) Thursday morning.
Early on Friday morning, he called on the protesters to calm down after days of violent protests.
In his televised speech, he said that "your demands for reforms and the fight against corruption have reached us," promising that his government would not make "empty promises."
