BAGHDAD, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) said on Monday that a total of 11 demonstrators were killed and some 289 others wounded during the past four days of anti-government protests in Baghdad and Iraq's southern provinces.
A statement by IHCHR said that "the commission's teams have registered, during the period from Nov. 21 to 24, the use of excessive force by the security forces, leaving one protester killed in Baghdad, seven in Dhi Qar province and three in Basra in southern Iraq."
IHCHR's teams also documented the injury of 68 demonstrators in Baghdad, 131 in Dhi Qar province and 90 in Basra, while the security forces arrested 93 demonstrators in Baghdad and released 14 of them, the statement said.
The security forces also arrested 22 demonstrators in Dhi Qar and 38 in Basra as well as arresting 34 protesters in the holy Shiite city of Karbala in south of Baghdad, the statement added.
IHCHR teams also documented the use of Molotov cocktails by some protesters against the security members and caused fires to a number of buildings and shops in Khalani Square and nearby al-Rashid Street in downtown Baghdad, as well as burning buildings in Dhi Qar province, it said.
The protesters also blocked roads leading some oil fields in the provinces Maysan, Wasit and Basra, in addition to blocking a main road leading to Um Qasr port on the Gulf and some vital bridges in a number of provinces, the IHCHR said.
Meanwhile, the commission praised the cooperation of security forces with the demonstrators in the formation of joint checkpoints to protect the demonstrators and maintain peaceful demonstrations in the provinces Najaf, Diwaniya, Babil, Muthanna, Maysan and Wasit, the statement added.
Also on Monday, Abdul Karim Khalaf, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a press release that "a group of outlawed protesters attacked the security forces with a hand grenade and Molotov cocktails in Hafez al-Qadi area in central Baghdad, wounding 11 security members."
"The security forces arrested a number of those outlawed persons and are still pursuing them," Khalaf warned.
Hafez al-Qadi area is located on the eastern side of the Tigris River, more than 800 meters from the main protests stronghold in Tahrir Square, in downtown the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Mass demonstrations have continued in the capital Baghdad and other cities in central and southern Iraq since early October, demanding comprehensive reform, accountability for corruption, improvement of public services and job opportunities.
