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Iraqi security forces killed at least nine people when they opened fire on anti-government protesters Sunday, continuing a brutal crackdown on dissent that has already claimed 339 lives.

The latest deaths happened in Baghdad and in Nassiriyah and the port of Um Qasr, near Basra, when Iraqi forces used live fire to disperse demonstrations, according to reports. Dozens more were wounded in the clashes, which took place when security forces tried to clear protesters who were occupying roads and bridges to block access to government buildings.

Human rights groups have accused Iraqi security forces of using brutal tactics against protesters, including the widespread use of live fire and controversial tear gas grenades that have caused deadly injuries. Amnesty International, which has described the situation as a "bloodbath, has called on the government to rein in security forces, but the latest violence indicates there is no sign of that happening.

Security forces have been using live fire and tear gas grenades in a lethal manner since the outset of the protests, Rand Hammoud, Amnesty Internationals research, campaigns and communications assistant for Iraq and Jordan told VICE News.

Weve seen a consistent abuse of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly of the Iraqi people.

Iraq has been rocked by mass anti-government protests since Oct. 1, when thousands of young Iraqis took to the streets of the capital. Angered by the failures of the ruling class, who they accuse of siphoning off the countrys oil riches, theyve demanded the reform of the political system to address endemic corruption, high unemployment and failing public services like electricity and clean water.

Iraq is ranked the 12th most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International, and has an unemployment rate of 25%.

People are rising up against corruption, against the lack of public services these are their demands, said Hammoud.

The protests spread swiftly across Shiite-majority provinces in the south, fuelled by the security forces brutal response: 149 civilians were killed in the first six days of demonstrations. Its become the biggest protest in the country in the post-Saddam Hussein era.

READ: How tuk-tuk drivers became the unlikely heroes of Iraqs protests

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi took office in Oct. 2018 promising reforms such as tackling corruption, boosting economic investment, and strengthening infrastructure, which have not been delivered. He has made a series of pledges to appease the protesters, including new elections, a cabinet reshuffle and government subsidies for job seekers.

But thats failed to placate the protesters, who are demanding the dissolution of parliament and a complete overhaul of the nation's political system.

On Oct. 31, President Barham Saleh said Abdul-Mahdi had offered to resign if parliament could agree on his successor, but so far no such replacement has been named.

READ: These Iraqi militias are prepared to fight the U.S. if it starts a war with Iran

The government has resorted to repressive tactics against protesters, such as cutting off Internet access and policing Facebook for dissent, and has been criticized for its violent crackdown on the protests.

Amnesty International has expressed particular concern about the use of military-grade tear-gas grenades, known as smokers, which the group alleges have been used to target protesters at point-blank range, with officers apparently aiming for protesters heads and bodies.

The group says it has confirmed through medical scans provided by hospital workers that a number of protesters have been killed by being shot in the head with the grenades, which became embedded in their skulls. Online, gruesome footage has circulated of protesters with severe head wounds inflicted by smokers.

Iraqs defense ministry has denied buying the grenades and blamed their use on an unidentified third party.

READ: Baghdadi is dead. That doesnt mean ISIS is

Hammoud said that in spite of the governments brutal measures, the protests showed no sign of letting up.

People continue to practice their right to freedom of expression and assembly despite the excessive use of force by the security forces, she said.

Cover: An injured protester is rushed to a hospital during clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

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Bloodbath: Iraq Is Cracking Down on Protesters With Live Ammunition and Military-Grade Tear Gas Grenades - Free

The central Iraqi government said it had reached an agreement in principle with the government of semi-autonomous Kurdistan on the terms of sharing the oil production of the northern Iraqi province.

The Associated Press reports that the Kurdish government had agreed to deliver 250,000 bpd of crude oil to Baghdad by the start of 2020 and receive in return a bigger portion of the federal Iraqi budget.

According to Iraqi government officials who spoke to the AP, the oil-sharing deal is part of a broader agreement between Baghdad and Erbil that the two have been discussing for months amid growing protests in some parts of Iraq. Despite the protests, the two sides are making progress, the sources who wished to remain unnamed said. Some topics yet to be agreed on include revenue sharing, military cooperation, and perhaps the hottest issue, territory.

Kurdistan is home to some of the biggest oil fields in Iraq, around the city of Kirkuk. The fields around Kirkuk, as well as the city itself, were until the fall of 2017 under the control of the Kurdish government, although the area was not officially part of the Kurdistan region. However, after the ill-fated independence referendum, which led to a strong reaction from Baghdad, the central Iraqi authorities regained control of the oil fields that account for a sizeable portion of Iraqs oil total.

Around 300,000 bpd of crude oil previously pumped and exported in the Kirkuk province to the Turkish port of Ceyhan were shut in when the Iraqi federal government moved in October 2017 to take control over the oil fields in Kirkuk from Kurdish forces after the semi-autonomous region held a referendum that Baghdad didnt recognize.

Bilateral relations remained tense until the elections in Iraq, which brought into office Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. The Kurdish government considers Abdul-Mahdi friendlier to their interests than his predecessor.

The deal was struck because the Kurds see Adel as a partner they can trust, one of the AP sources said. There may have been a sense of urgency on the part of the Kurds because of this, since the protests, which have so far claimed more than 300 lives, have escalated to calls for the resignation of the Prime Minister.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Iraq Is Finally Ready To Solve Its Biggest Oil Problem - OilPrice.com

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Iraq is one of the top recipients of American assistance, and the U.S. foreign aid agency manages more than $1 billion in projects there, including funding for Iraqi religious minorities pushed by Vice President Mike Pence. But increasingly, the agency doesnt have people on the ground to make sure the money is being well-spent.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has been forced to cut nearly 80% of its non-Iraqi staff in Iraq in the last year, even as the agency funds large, ambitious and complex aid projects there. A critical government watchdog report released this week said USAID officials reported the cuts have had significant adverse effects on the oversight and management of grants.

As ProPublica detailed this month, Pences office has pressured USAID to support local groups representing Iraqi minorities, particularly Christians. The watchdog report released this week said, in the context of the staff reductions and uncertainty, overseeing local groups is particularly challenging given that awards to local organizations require increased involvement.

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One small charity that recently received a USAID grant and primarily serves Christian Iraqis has no full-time paid staff and no experience with government grants.

Overall, the report notes that USAID now has no staff based permanently in Iraq to oversee $430 million in basic humanitarian aid, such as food, safe drinking water and medical services. USAID officials manage the funding remotely via phone calls, reports from implementers and temporary visits, the report said.

As a result, staff are only able to engage in the bare minimum coordination with the rest of the U.S. government, the Iraqi government and the international community, USAID staff told the inspector general.

In May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered a partial evacuation of U.S. personnel in Iraq in response to concerns over threats from Iran. The ordered departure has been controversial, and diplomats have criticized what they view as a gutting of core diplomatic functions in Iraq.

That decision, combined with an earlier State Department move to shrink the USAID mission, reduced the agencys non-Iraqi staff from 26 at the start of the 2019 fiscal year to six by this fall, the report said. Some of those officials relocated to Washington, while others transferred to Germany.

USAID, the State Department and Pences office did not respond to questions. In response to the prior ProPublica story, a USAID spokeswoman said local grants in Iraq follow all federal regulations and have empowered those groups to respond to grassroots needs.

The report, which covers the period between July 1 and Oct. 25, was jointly prepared by the inspectors general of USAID, the State Department and the Pentagon.

The watchdog report said the Pompeo-ordered departure had been extended through Nov. 9, citing reports of violence and threats to diplomatic personnel. In July, Foreign Policy reported that the lower staffing levels are being treated as permanent.

USAID manages $1.16 billion in assistance in Iraq, spanning development, humanitarian aid and stabilization efforts, according to the report.

That large portfolio, coupled with the staff reductions, create uncertainty as to how programs will be overseen remotely, the report said. Uncertainty around staffing levels also raises questions about USAIDs continuing ability to effectively oversee its high-priority, high-risk portfolio.

U.S. assistance in Iraq includes over $400 million for religious and ethnic minorities targeted by the militant group Islamic State. That has been a major priority for Pence, as well as for conservative Christian groups and vocal communities of Iraqi Christians.

A new component of that effort was announced by USAID last month: $4.1 million to six local Iraqi organizations. ProPublica previously found that political appointees played a significant role in the latest awards.

The awardees included two groups that had been rejected by career officials for separate grants in Iraq in 2018. One of the groups, the Shlama Foundation, is a small charity that primarily serves Christian Iraqis; it will receive $1 million over two years. It has no full-time paid staff and no experience with government grants, a Shlama board member, Ranna Abro, previously told ProPublica.

Shlama did not respond to a request for comment this week, but Abro said previously that it is capable of handling the work, and that USAID had fully and completely reviewed our capacity and is releasing the funds in small, manageable amounts based on deliverable outcomes.

USAID has exacting requirements for its funding, requiring groups to provide extensive background and financial information. Small organizations often are less equipped to fulfill those requirements and need particularly close oversight from agency officials, experts on foreign aid said.

The watchdog report addressed the latest awards to local Iraqi groups, and it said their structure relies on in-country expertise from USAID personnel to train local organizations on the requirements of receiving U.S. funding. It added: According to USAID, this is particularly challenging given that awards to local organizations require increased involvement.

The report also raised questions about the effectiveness of some of USAIDs efforts toward Christians and other minority groups in Iraq.

For instance, one major USAID goal in Iraq has been to encourage the return of Christians, Yazidis and other groups to their homes in northern Iraq, which they fled after Islamic State took over swaths of the country. Last year, USAID administrator Mark Green said the agency was committed to creating the conditions so that these communities can return safely to their ancestral lands.

But officials have acknowledged relatively modest returns on the effort thus far. In September, senior USAID official Hallam Ferguson said the returns of persecuted religious minority groups to their homes still lag far behind other displaced groups in Iraq.

We are struggling against tectonic forces in Iraq, including decades of government neglect and discriminatory policy, more than 15 years of sectarian strife and unchecked local armed groups, Ferguson said in testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

According to the watchdog report, USAID officials have said that obstacles in Iraq cannot be resolved without more diplomatic engagement, made far more difficult by Pompeos drawdown. The report cited disputes between local Iraqi political leaders that had allowed a vacuum of governance to develop in Sinjar, an area of Iraq that includes many religious minorities.

The longer these barriers remain in place, the more significant the questions grow about the potential effectiveness of these assistance efforts, the report said.

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The Trump Administration Gutted the Staff Overseeing $1 Billion in Aid to Iraq. A Watchdog Is Raising Red Flags. - ProPublica

The Home Office has made a U-turn in the case of a man caring for his terminally ill partner who was told he was going to be deported to Jamaica because officials had concluded that he failed to demonstrate that his life would be at risk in Iraq.

The Guardian reported last month that ONeil Wallfall, 49 who has never been to Iraq received a refusal letter that appeared to indicate his case had been confused with that of someone else.

The government also said in the same document that it would not be unreasonable or unduly harsh to expect his British partner, Karen McQueen, 56, to relocate to his homeland of Jamaica with him. McQueen has a diagnosis of terminal cancer and is awaiting a transplant after kidney failure.

In the letter rejecting Wallfalls application which his lawyer said provided clear evidence that the government copies and pastes letters and disregards individual submissions when reaching its conclusions the Home Office wrote: You have claimed that you will be unlawfully killed on return to Iraq you have not demonstrated that death is virtually certain.

After being contacted by the Guardian, the Home Office said it was reconsidering its decision in light of further information.

Last Friday, Wallfalls solicitor Naga Kandiah, of MTC Solicitors, received a letter from the Home Office that said: After a review of the case it has been decided to grant 30 months leave on the basis of Mr Wallfalls family life.

Wallfall has been in the UK since 2002 and has been waiting for 17 years to regularise his status. He has been in a relationship with McQueen for three years. The couple said they were very much in love. She was dependent on him for support with her serious health conditions.

The couple said they were overjoyed about the Home Office U-turn. Wallfall said he broke down in tears when he got the news. Ive been waiting 17 years for this, he said. Now Karen and I can get on with our lives together. At last I can sleep and dont have to look over my shoulder for immigration all the time. The first thing I want to do is get a job. Id love to work as a postman or for the NHS.

McQueen said: I dont think we would have got this change of heart from the Home Office without the Guardian highlighting our case.

This is brilliant and unbelievable, she added. My life feels complete for the first time. Its as if our lives have been given back to us by the Home Office and now were free.

Kandiah condemned the original refusal letter citing Iraq and welcomed the governments change of heart.Before the decision to grant 30 months leave he had been planning to challenge the refusal in court.

This client, like so many others in similar situations, was at the height of vulnerability when this refusal came through, said Kandiah. The Home Office has done this U-turn to avoid professional embarrassment in front of a judge had the case had gone to court.

He said he believed that the Home Offices copying and pasting of refusal decisions, as in Wallfalls case, was not a one-off phenomenon.

In another Home Office refusal letter seen by the Guardian, officials said they would deport a man to his home country Sri Lanka because you are of an economically active age and will be able to return to Nigeria and sustain yourself. The same letter then added: You do not have leave to enter or remain in the UK and can be removed to Qatar (Doha) India (Mumbai), Oman (Muscat) and Turkey (Istanbul).

The Home Office said: Mr Wallfalls case was reconsidered in light of further information being provided. This was unrelated to the error in the initial decision letter.

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Home Office reverses attempt to deport Jamaican man 'to Iraq' - The Guardian

As Saba al-Mahdawi left Baghdads TahrirSquare after a long day of helping protesters on the frontlines, the teargas started to take its toll. Choking, she was brought back to her friends tent. They told her to go home she had done enough for the day.

But she never made it. Just a few hours later,she was kidnapped by unknown men as she got into her car. For two weeks her face circulated on social media and the hashtag: Where is Saba? went viral.

Saba became a symbol of the brave women and of the conscious young people, Mohamed Fadhel, a civil activist and friend of Mahdawis, tellsThe Independent.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The kidnappings, tortures, and deaths that are intended to scare us will do nothing except increase our presence here until we finish with this failed and corrupt government.

Mahdawi was released earlier this month, but her experience has left an indelible mark on the square as she has become a symbol of the rising presence of female protesters in Iraqs streets: threatened, facing great personal risk,but determined all the same.

Iraqi protesters take cover behind a barricade on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on 25 October, 2019.

AFP/Getty

Protesters push down concrete walls during a protest over corruption, lack of jobs, and poor services, in Baghdad.

Reuters

Anti-government protesters try to break into the provincial council building during a demonstration in Basra.

AP

Iraqi women protesters march with national flags during an anti-government demonstration in the central holy shrine city of Najaf.

AFP/Getty

An Iraqi protester uses a mobile phone to take a selfie photo with an army soldier standing atop a humvee during a demonstration outside the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters gather during an anti-government demonstration at the burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters wave a national flag as they stand atop the gatehouse to the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra.

AFP/Getty

An Iraqi protester throws back a tear gas canister fired by security forces amid clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters carry away an injured protester following clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi security forces stand guard on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration in central Baghdad.

AP

The burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar.

AFP/Getty

Protesters take cover behind a concrete barricade during a demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi paramedics help injured protesters in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters gather in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

An Iraqi protester takes cover between concrete barricades in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Protesters take cover from teargas canisters fired by security forces in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters take cover behind a barricade on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on 25 October, 2019.

AFP/Getty

Protesters push down concrete walls during a protest over corruption, lack of jobs, and poor services, in Baghdad.

Reuters

Anti-government protesters try to break into the provincial council building during a demonstration in Basra.

AP

Iraqi women protesters march with national flags during an anti-government demonstration in the central holy shrine city of Najaf.

AFP/Getty

An Iraqi protester uses a mobile phone to take a selfie photo with an army soldier standing atop a humvee during a demonstration outside the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters gather during an anti-government demonstration at the burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters wave a national flag as they stand atop the gatehouse to the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra.

AFP/Getty

An Iraqi protester throws back a tear gas canister fired by security forces amid clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters carry away an injured protester following clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi security forces stand guard on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration in central Baghdad.

AP

The burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar.

AFP/Getty

Protesters take cover behind a concrete barricade during a demonstration in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi paramedics help injured protesters in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Iraqi protesters gather in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

An Iraqi protester takes cover between concrete barricades in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

Protesters take cover from teargas canisters fired by security forces in Baghdad.

AFP/Getty

We are all here threatened. Saba wasnt famous, she was just someone who loved Iraq and was here, and that means that anyone could be kidnapped, says Haneen Ghranem, 27, an activist and protester.

There are many women here. All the women who came out from the beginning, before and after the kidnappingof Saba are still here. All know they could face kidnapping, says Ghranem.

She works at a grassroots radio station, in an abandoned building in Tahrir square that has become a makeshift centrefor protestersdetermined to make womens voicesheard.

All the women here know that they could die at any moment, she adds.

Shes not alone in hoping to inspire more women to go to the square.

Rua Khalaf, 31, was one of the few women present at the very beginning of the protests on 1 October when snipers used live rounds to fire directly on demonstrators in the streets.

Khalaf showsthe picture of herself that went viral (Pesha Magid/The Independent)

I wanted to go so it would be remembered that women were there, she says.

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She has been participating in protests since 2015, and says that earlier protests did not have the same representation of women as they do now.

The marches paused in mid-October during the holy Shia pilgrimage of Arbaeen, but when they resumed women began to attend in numbers previously unseen in Iraqi protests.

On 25 October, Khalaf wore an Iraqi flag wrapped close around her shoulders, and her face turned against the drifting teargas.

Her friend snapped a photo of her profile and posted it online and suddenly her face was everywhere.

She goes to the square daily, coordinating food and medical support for the protestersand says she is often recognised on the street.

Now Khalafs face, like Mahdawis, has become iconic within TahrirSquare. Graffiti artists plan to paint a portrait of her on a wide wall in the Saadoun underpass leading to TahrirSquare, now an informal gallery of revolutionary art.

The participation of women in the protests broke the barriers between men and women;it changed the typical view of women that they stay away from taking part in politics, she says.

Another protester, Nour Faisal, 22, says women are feeling more empowered by coming to the demonstrations.

On1October when I went [to the protests], I was wearing heels. They were shooting and I was running, it was hard to run, but I wore it as a type of protest. I took a photo of my heels and wrote that Iraqi womens heels are straighter than our government, she says.

Picture of Refal al-Azizputting on red lipstick in the mirror of a tuk-tuk vehicle (Pesha Magid/The Independent)

Faisal wants to emphasise that femininity can mean strength, and has a place at the heart of the square.

The woman is there, the women with her beauty and style is going there and can do things, she adds.

Shes not alone in that effort.

Refal al-Aziz, 26, a protester and journalist, made a point to publish a picture of herself putting on red lipstick in the mirror of a tuk-tuk.

The picture went viral, getting shared across social media and published on TV.

I wanted to publish this picture to represent this magnificent participation of women. I thought the thing that represents femininity worldwide is red lipstick and the thing that symbolises the protests is the tuk-tuk, Aziz says.

The humble three-wheeled vehicle has become famous in the protest for nimbly wheeling to the most dangerous areas and rescuing theinjured. Women and tuk-tuks, no one expected they would be there with such strength! Aziz continues.

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Women in Iraq defiantly take to the streets despite fears they 'could die at any moment' - The Independent