Casualties mounting as Iraq protests see 24 killed in past 2 days

Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 24 protesters and injured 210 in the past two days in the Iraqi city of Nassiriya, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday, bringing the total number of casualties to 354 deaths and 8,104 wounded. Troops opened fire on demonstrators who blocked a bridge before dawn in the southern city of Nassiriya on Thursday, and the protesters later gathered outside a police station. So far, the authorities have been unyielding in response to the unrest, shooting dead hundreds of demonstrators with live ammunition and tear gas, while floating proposals for political reform that the protesters dismiss as trivial and cosmetic.