100 dead, 5,500 hurt in week of Iraq violence: HRC

AFP, Baghdad :
At least 100 people have died and more than 5,000 injured since anti-government demonstrations resumed in Iraq on October 24, a national rights commission said Wednesday.
The Iraqi Human Rights Commission said a majority of the dead were civilians suffocated by tear gas, or who sustained trauma wounds from tear gas canisters or were shot dead.
It could not immediately provide a breakdown of where and when the victims had died.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran accused the United States and Arab states of stoking unrest in Lebanon and Iraq, and called for calm in both countries.
As night fell, the government faced the mounting pressure of swelling protests, pro-Iran figures defending the prime minister and deadly rockets slamming into Baghdad´s Green Zone. The missiles hit a checkpoint near the US embassy, killing one Iraqi military member and wounding others, security sources told AFP.
The Green Zone, where government offices and many foreign embassies are based, had already boosted security measures in response to protests demanding the government´s downfall.
In the latest week-long wave of demonstrations, at least 100 people have died and 5,500 more have been wounded, the Iraqi Human Rights Commission said.
The commission told AFP most of the casualties were civilians who either suffocated by tear gas, sustained trauma wounds from tear gas canisters or were shot dead.
The number brings the toll since protests first erupted on October 1 to 257 dead and more than 10,000 wounded.
The protests began over poor services, unemployment and corruption, but have since evolved to demand Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi step down.
Abdel Mahdi, 77, came to power last year through a tenuous partnership between populist cleric Moqtada Sadr and paramilitary chief Hadi al-Ameri. But the premier appears to have lost top-tier support, with Sadr calling for his resignation and early elections.
President Barham Saleh held talks with Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbussi and Ameri late Tuesday over the premier´s ouster, an Iraqi government source told AFP.
Ameri appeared to be resisting calls to bring down the premier, the source said, but a parliamentary session on Thursday could bring a new escalation.