Sharjah 24 – AFP: Twelve protesters were killed Monday after supporters of cleric Moqtada Sadr stormed the government palace in Baghdad's Green Zone after Sadr said he was quitting politics.
Shots were fired in the fortified area which houses government buildings as well as diplomatic missions, an AFP correspondent said, as tensions soared amid an escalating political crisis that has left Iraq without a new government, prime minister or president for months.
Medics told AFP that 12 Sadr supporters had been shot dead and 270 others protesters were hurt -- some with bullet wounds and others suffering tear gas inhalation.
The army announced a nationwide curfew from 7:00 pm (1600 GMT), and security forces later patrolled the capital.
Calling the developments "an extremely dangerous escalation", the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) urged "all" sides to "refrain from acts that could lead to an unstoppable chain of events".
"The very survival of the state is at stake," it warned.
The United States also urged calm amid the "disturbing" reports of unrest in Baghdad.
Protests later spread to other parts of the country, with Sadr followers storming government buildings in the cities of Nasiriyah and Hillah south of Baghdad, an AFP correspondent and witnesses said, with some roads also blocked in Hillah.
Shortly after he made his surprise declaration, Sadr's followers burst into the Republican Palace, where cabinet meetings are usually held.
Caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi earlier this month convened crisis talks with party leaders, but the Sadrists boycotted.
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