Hospital officials say one protester has been killed and hundreds of others injured in a southern Iraqi city.
The officials say the casualties occurred in the city of Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad during anti-government protests that turned violent.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Iraqi health ministry regulations.
The economically-driven protests erupted in several cities as well as the capital Baghdad Tuesday. Iraqi security forces fired live bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.
The confrontations were some of the worst in the Iraqi capital in more than a year, and signaled that the war-weary country could be facing a new round of political instability.
