<p>Nearly 50 people have died in renewed anti-government protests across Iraq, officials said Saturday, with clashes breaking out as demonstrators turned their fury against the government and paramilitary offices.</p>.<p>The death toll from protests this month has climbed to 205, including dozens who were killed as they torched government buildings or offices belonging to factions of Hashed al-Shaabi force over the past two days.</p>.<p>The demonstrations first erupted on October 1, with protesters railing against government corruption and unemployment, while a second wave broke out late Thursday.</p>.<p>This latest round of demonstrations has been notably violent, with 48 people killed in as many hours.</p>.<p>Three protesters were killed in the capital Baghdad on Saturday, with medics and officials reporting trauma wounds sustained by tear gas canisters lobbed at demonstrators.</p>.<p>But the majority of victims have been in the Shiite-majority south, where protesters torched dozens of provincial government buildings, party offices and Hashed centres.</p>.<p>On Saturday, three people were shot dead while setting fire to a local official's home, a police source told AFP.</p>.<p>The previous night, 12 protesters died in Diwaniyah while setting fire to the headquarters of the powerful Badr organisation.</p>.<p>Top Hashed commanders have threatened "revenge" after their offices were attacked, and denounced those they said aimed at sowing "discord and chaos" in the country.</p>.<p>In a bid to contain the violence security forces have announced curfews across most of Iraq's southern provinces -- but brief protests nevertheless took place in Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Babylon and Najaf.</p>.<p>In the southern port city of Basra, protesters failed to come out in large numbers after security forces strictly enforced a curfew.</p>.<p>The Hashed was founded in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group but its factions have since been ordered to incorporate into the state security services.</p>.<p>"Public anger is directed at them in addition to governorate councils, for they were the obvious face of 'the regime'," wrote Harith Hasan, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.</p>.<p>But the attacks could also hint at political rivalries between the Hashed and populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has thrown his weight behind the demonstrations.</p>.<p>"The Sadrists, especially in their traditional strongholds such as Missan, saw this an opportunity to act against competing militias," such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr, and Kataeb Hezbollah, Hasan said on Twitter.</p>.<p>The United Nations on Saturday said it was "tragic" to see renewed violence but also warned against "armed spoilers".</p>.<p>"Armed entities sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations, eroding the government's credibility and ability to act, cannot be tolerated," said the UN top official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.</p>.<p>Protesters gathered in Baghdad's emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square on Saturday morning despite efforts by riot police to clear them with tear gas.</p>.<p>"It's enough -- theft, looting, gangs, mafias, deep state, whatever. Get out! Let us see a (functioning) state," said one protester, referring to perceived cronyism and corruption in the country.</p>.<p>"We don't want anything, just let us live," he added as puffs of smoke from tear gas rose behind him.</p>.<p>Oil-rich Iraq is OPEC's second-highest producer -- but one in five people live below the poverty line and youth unemployment sits at 25 per cent, according to the World Bank.</p>.<p>About 60 per cent of Iraq's 40-million-strong population is under the age of 25.</p>.<p>The staggering rates of joblessness and allegations of corruption sparked the widespread protests on October 1 and the government has struggled to quell public anger by proposing reforms.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi has suggested a laundry list of measures, including hiring drives, increased pensions and a cabinet reshuffle.</p>.<p>New education and health ministers were approved by parliament in a session earlier this month, the only time it was able to meet since protests began.</p>.<p>But a scheduled meeting of parliament on Saturday to discuss the renewed protests failed to take due to a lack of quorum.</p>.<p>Protesters so far have seemed unimpressed by the government's efforts.</p>.<p>"They told young people: 'go home, we'll give you pensions and come up with a solution'. They tricked us," said one of the rare woman protesters on Saturday, her young son at her side.</p>.<p>They have even directed some of their anger at Sadr and country's top Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is deeply revered among most Iraqis,</p>.<p>"Sadr, Sistani -- this is a shame," a protester in Tahrir said on Saturday.</p>.<p>"We were hit! It's enough," he said, waving a tear gas canister fired earlier by security forces.</p>
<p>Nearly 50 people have died in renewed anti-government protests across Iraq, officials said Saturday, with clashes breaking out as demonstrators turned their fury against the government and paramilitary offices.</p>.<p>The death toll from protests this month has climbed to 205, including dozens who were killed as they torched government buildings or offices belonging to factions of Hashed al-Shaabi force over the past two days.</p>.<p>The demonstrations first erupted on October 1, with protesters railing against government corruption and unemployment, while a second wave broke out late Thursday.</p>.<p>This latest round of demonstrations has been notably violent, with 48 people killed in as many hours.</p>.<p>Three protesters were killed in the capital Baghdad on Saturday, with medics and officials reporting trauma wounds sustained by tear gas canisters lobbed at demonstrators.</p>.<p>But the majority of victims have been in the Shiite-majority south, where protesters torched dozens of provincial government buildings, party offices and Hashed centres.</p>.<p>On Saturday, three people were shot dead while setting fire to a local official's home, a police source told AFP.</p>.<p>The previous night, 12 protesters died in Diwaniyah while setting fire to the headquarters of the powerful Badr organisation.</p>.<p>Top Hashed commanders have threatened "revenge" after their offices were attacked, and denounced those they said aimed at sowing "discord and chaos" in the country.</p>.<p>In a bid to contain the violence security forces have announced curfews across most of Iraq's southern provinces -- but brief protests nevertheless took place in Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Babylon and Najaf.</p>.<p>In the southern port city of Basra, protesters failed to come out in large numbers after security forces strictly enforced a curfew.</p>.<p>The Hashed was founded in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group but its factions have since been ordered to incorporate into the state security services.</p>.<p>"Public anger is directed at them in addition to governorate councils, for they were the obvious face of 'the regime'," wrote Harith Hasan, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.</p>.<p>But the attacks could also hint at political rivalries between the Hashed and populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has thrown his weight behind the demonstrations.</p>.<p>"The Sadrists, especially in their traditional strongholds such as Missan, saw this an opportunity to act against competing militias," such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr, and Kataeb Hezbollah, Hasan said on Twitter.</p>.<p>The United Nations on Saturday said it was "tragic" to see renewed violence but also warned against "armed spoilers".</p>.<p>"Armed entities sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations, eroding the government's credibility and ability to act, cannot be tolerated," said the UN top official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.</p>.<p>Protesters gathered in Baghdad's emblematic Tahrir (Liberation) Square on Saturday morning despite efforts by riot police to clear them with tear gas.</p>.<p>"It's enough -- theft, looting, gangs, mafias, deep state, whatever. Get out! Let us see a (functioning) state," said one protester, referring to perceived cronyism and corruption in the country.</p>.<p>"We don't want anything, just let us live," he added as puffs of smoke from tear gas rose behind him.</p>.<p>Oil-rich Iraq is OPEC's second-highest producer -- but one in five people live below the poverty line and youth unemployment sits at 25 per cent, according to the World Bank.</p>.<p>About 60 per cent of Iraq's 40-million-strong population is under the age of 25.</p>.<p>The staggering rates of joblessness and allegations of corruption sparked the widespread protests on October 1 and the government has struggled to quell public anger by proposing reforms.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi has suggested a laundry list of measures, including hiring drives, increased pensions and a cabinet reshuffle.</p>.<p>New education and health ministers were approved by parliament in a session earlier this month, the only time it was able to meet since protests began.</p>.<p>But a scheduled meeting of parliament on Saturday to discuss the renewed protests failed to take due to a lack of quorum.</p>.<p>Protesters so far have seemed unimpressed by the government's efforts.</p>.<p>"They told young people: 'go home, we'll give you pensions and come up with a solution'. They tricked us," said one of the rare woman protesters on Saturday, her young son at her side.</p>.<p>They have even directed some of their anger at Sadr and country's top Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is deeply revered among most Iraqis,</p>.<p>"Sadr, Sistani -- this is a shame," a protester in Tahrir said on Saturday.</p>.<p>"We were hit! It's enough," he said, waving a tear gas canister fired earlier by security forces.</p>