BAGHDAD, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A demonstrator was killed on Tuesday during a protest in the Iraqi capital Baghdad against the impunity for those who launched deadly attacks on anti-government protesters and activists in the past months.

An Interior Ministry source told Xinhua that thousands of protesters gathered on three main squares in Baghdad, including the al-Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad.

Many protesters raised Iraqi flags and pictures of the protesters who were killed previously in anti-corruption demonstrations held since October 2019.

Iraqi security forces arrested four people who tried to infiltrate the demonstration near the al-Tahrir Square, according to a statement issued by the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC).

The arrested confessed that they tried to penetrate the front lines of the demonstration in a bid to cause chaos, the JOC said.

Ali al-Baiyati, a member of the Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights, said one protester was killed and some others were wounded in a clash that erupted when the Iraqi security forces tried to reopen the roads blocked by the demonstrators.

Later on Tuesday, a JOC statement said that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the incident.

Iraqi President Barham Salih said in a tweet that "the use of bullets in demonstrations should not pass without investigation and accountability," while adding that the protection of security and public properties is necessary. Enditem

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