Iraqi security officers opened fire on protesters in southern Iraq on Thursday, killing at least 35, as the government sought to quell violence that started with an attack on the Iranian Consulate in the city of Najaf, but then spread to other areas in the country’s south. During the day, the violence centered on the southern city of Nasiriya, where on Wednesday the government had sent additional security forces to try to halt what had become daily violence there. But on Thursday, instead of using tear gas or sound bombs, the hard-line reinforcements from the Interior Ministry’s Quick Reaction Forces opened fire on mostly unarmed protesters in the early morning hours as they held a sit-in, killing at least 25 and wounding 160, according to a report from the Dhi Qar governor’s office and the Iraqi security forces’ Joint Operational Command. Later in the […]