Violent demonstrations took place in several cities in Salahudin province in north of Baghdad on Friday as part of massive protests across the country that left dozens of people dead and injured.

More than 1,000 protestors rallied outside the Salahudin provincial government building in central the provincial capital city of Tirik, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a Xinhua correspondent at the scene said.

The protestors stoned the government building and clashed with the guards demanding resignation of the provincial governor and the provincial council members, who are blamed by the protestors of being behind the deterioration of public services and corruption.

Also in the province, angry protestors attacked the city council of Sulaiman-Pek and set fire to the building after clashes with the security forces. Seven people were injured, a local security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Salahudin province, located in northern central of Iraq, is mainly a Sunni province. Its capital city of Tikrit is the hometown of the former president Saddam Hussien.

The demonstrations are part of nation-wide protests called on by Iraqi groups on the social networking website Facebook to be held on February 25, asking Iraqis to hold what they named " Revolution of Iraqi Rage," or "Day of Rage" across the country, in a move widely seen inspired by the protests in Tunisia and Egypt.

Recently, several thousands of Iraqis sporadically took to the streets in several provinces across the country protesting unemployment and a sharp rise in the prices of food staples, as well as demanding better public services.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments