Iraqi Police Use Force to Disperse Medical School Graduates Protest in Baghdad

Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)
Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)
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Iraqi Police Use Force to Disperse Medical School Graduates Protest in Baghdad

Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)
Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)

Thousands of medical school graduates took to the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday to protest against the failure to hire them for public sector jobs over a year since they graduated.

The police used excessive force to disperse them, complained several protesters, who gathered near the Green Zone that houses government buildings.

Over 25 people were wounded in the rallies, while activists said eleven have “gone missing” and believed to be detained by security forces.

Witnesses said riot police used clubs and water cannon to disperse the protesters, leaving them with injuries.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered a probe into the violence, stressing that all Iraqis have the right to hold peaceful protests.

On Monday, the PM approved the appointment of nearly 60,000 doctors in the public sector. The cabinet agreed to allocate the necessary funds to finance their salaries.

The appointments weren’t enough to quell the anger on the streets.

Head of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee Arshad al-Salihi noted that the growing number of private universities has led to a growing number of medical school graduates, while there aren’t enough public sector job vacancies for them to fill.

He called on the state to provide different job grades for the graduates to ensure that they are hired.

Medical sources doubted that the state would be able to meet the demand for employment by the graduates due to their swelling numbers every year.

The sources explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the majority of the private universities are owned by powerful political figures and parties.

One year at medical school costs at least 10 million dinars, or about 7,000 dollars, they added.

However, several health specialists have complained that the graduates aren’t even qualified enough for jobs given the poor and outdated educational standards at the universities they studied at.

“The greatest crime successive authorities in Iraq have committed – under the pressure of influential parties – is allowing the establishment of dozens of private universities that are specialized in various medical studies,” they added.

The sources predicted that the problem of unemployed graduates will only deepen with time and the government will find itself unable to contain their large numbers.



Syria Says Deadly Israeli Strikes a 'Blatant Violation'

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Syria Says Deadly Israeli Strikes a 'Blatant Violation'

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Syria on Thursday condemned deadly Israeli strikes across the country as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty, after Israel said it struck "military capabilities".

Syrian state media said the strikes hit close to a defense research center in Damascus, among other sites, while a war monitor reported four dead in the latest Israeli attack on Syria since the opposition factions ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

"In a blatant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty, Israeli forces launched airstrikes on five locations across the country," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

"This unjustified escalation is a deliberate attempt to destabilize Syria and exacerbate the suffering of its people."

It said the strikes resulted in the "near-total destruction" of a military airport in central Syrian province Hama, injuring dozens of civilians and soldiers.

Syria's SANA news agency reported a strike that "targeted the vicinity of the scientific research building" in Damascus's northern Barzeh neighborhood, and a raid in the vicinity of Hama, without specifying what was hit.

The Israeli military said in a statement that forces "struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian bases of Hama and T4, along with additional remaining military infrastructure sites in the area of Damascus".

Israel has said it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers extremists.

The Syrian ministry said the strikes came as the country was trying to rebuild after 14 years of war, calling it a strategy to "normalize violence within the country".

Last month, Israel said it struck the T4 military base in central Homs province twice, targeting military capabilities at the site.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that "four people were killed and others wounded, including Syrian defense ministry personnel, in the strikes on Hama military airport".

Buffer zone

The monitor said those raids, which targeted "remaining planes, runways and towers, put the airport completely out of service," also reporting that the Damascus strikes targeted the research center in Barzeh.

In the days after Assad's fall on December 8, the Britain-based Observatory reported Israeli strikes targeting the center.

Western countries including the United States had previously struck the defense ministry facility in 2018, saying it was related to Syria's "chemical weapons infrastructure".

Also since Assad's fall, Israel has deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights and called for the complete demilitarization of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan.

Authorities in south Syria's Daraa on Telegram late Wednesday said that several Israeli military vehicles entered an area in the province's west, reporting that "three (Israeli) artillery shells" targeted the area.

The Observatory has reported repeated Israeli military incursions into southern Syria beyond the demarcation line in recent months.

Last month, during a visit to Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Israeli strikes on Syria were "unnecessary" and threatened to worsen the situation.