Dozens of anti-government protesters killed across Iraq
Bloodshed spread across Iraq on Thursday to become one of the most violent days since the anti-government uprising began at the start of October.
Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 45 protesters after demonstrators stormed and torched an Iranian consulate overnight.
Most were killed In the southern city of Nassiriya.
That's where at least 29 people died when troops opened fire on demonstrators who blocked a bridge before dawn and later gathered outside a police station.
The violence and the consulate burning could mark a turning point in the uprising against the Tehran-backed authorities after weeks of mass demonstrations and hundreds of deaths.
Young, mostly Shi'ite protesters say politicians are corrupt and beholden to foreign powers - especially Iran.
One protester told Reuters what he said happened at the consulate in Najaf.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER, SAYING:
''Young men burned it. When it was set on fire, all the riot police in Najaf and the security forces started firing on us, as if we were burning Iraq as a whole. The riot police fired tear gas canisters intensively and the security forces showered us heavily with live bullets.''
Several others were killed in the capital Baghdad, where security forces opened fire with live ammunition and rubber bullets against protesters near a bridge over the Tigris river.
The protesters had blamed the government for a failure to recover from years of conflict.
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has promised electoral and anti-corruption reform.
The protests are the most complex challenge facing the Shi'ite-dominated ruling class that has controlled state institutions and patronage networks since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled long-time Sunni ruler Saddam Hussein.
