SCORES of protesters were detained along with former MPs and journalists in the northern Iraqi city of Slemani today as security forces fired on an anti-government demonstration.

With the Kurdish uprising continuing to spread, military vehicles prowled the city’s streets and heavily armed militiamen were deployed in a show of force as large crowds formed in defiance of a ban on unauthorised demonstrations.

Live bullets and tear gas were fired to disperse those gathered in Slemani’s crowded bazaar, while security personnel also opened fire on protesters in the city of Kalar.

At least nine people have been shot dead, including two children, as unrest sweeps Iraqi Kurdistan.

NRT TV journalist Karzan Tariq was arrested early today as he tried to cover the protest in Slemani.

The station has been closed down over its coverage of the protests as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) tightly controls media reporting.

According to Kurdish MP Ali Hama Saleh, at least 400 people have been detained since the latest round of protests began last week amid anger at the delayed payment of public-sector wages and deteriorating living conditions.

Protesters are now demanding the government’s resignation and an end to what they say is a broken and corrupt political system, under which the region is controlled by two powerful families: the Barzanis, who run the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Talabanis, who lead the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

Former Iraqi deputy prime minister Hoshyar Zebari, who was forced to resign as the country’s finance minister in 2016 over corruption charges, was widely berated after claiming that the protests in Slemani had “fizzled out.”

Protesters dismissed his assertion that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is manipulating the situation, saying they were expressing legitimate anger over “nepotism and theft” of Kurdistan’s resources by the ruling elite.

Britain’s ambassador to the region, James Thornton, also came under fire after breaking days of silence to urge Kurds to protest “peacefully” while asking the security forces to act with restraint.

His comments were made in an interview with the Barzani-owned Rudaw news agency, whose journalists have been chased away from demonstrations amid accusations that it is a “propaganda outfit” for the KDP.

One Slemani resident told the Star: “This is pathetic. Children are being shot dead. This attempt at even-handedness is ridiculous. We have suffered decades of brutal dictatorship.

“Now the people are rising up and saying enough. Why won’t he speak out about this? They are all the same.”

As the Morning Star went to press, protests were continuing and the family of detained former opposition MP Payman Izzadin said they fear she has disappeared, since they have no information on her whereabouts.