By evening, the protesters were cleared from the Green Zone compound.
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Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live bullets at the protesters, according to a Reuters witness and live video, and dozens have reportedly been injured.
The government briefly imposed a curfew on Baghdad and authorities later said order had returned after what they called rioting at the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government buildings and many foreign embassies. Some held Iraqi flags and flashed peace signs near the insignia of the prime minister’s press office and inside a meeting room.
Outside, ambulances weaved through the crowd to ferry away those hurt. Al-Sadr’s media office said two protesters were killed in the clashes.
A curfew was announced due to the unrest – which security and medical officials said wounded at least 58 people, including security personnel – but was soon lifted. The protesters included supporters of powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups who are displeased with the government’s failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and provide security.
An injured protester is rushed to treatment outside Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone Friday, May 20, 2016. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.
Abadi has warned the impasse was undermining Baghdad’s security and could hamper Iraq’s fight against Islamic State, which continues to control territory in the north and west.
The earlier protests at the fortified compound had been instigated largely by followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric who wields political influence in the country.
The incident follows a similar mass protest last month when hundreds of people stormed Iraq’s parliament buildings.
Meanwhile, a string of deadly bombings has killed more than 200 over the past couple of weeks in and around Baghdad.
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Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has proposed reforms and wants to replace the current government of party-affiliated ministers with a cabinet of technocrats. The attacks, many claimed by the Islamic State group, follow territorial losses the Sunni militants have suffered at the hands of Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led coalition aircraft.
