The fire at the Badr organization’s offices was the deadliest incident yet on Friday Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani urged protesters to use “restraint” to stop the demos descending into “chaos” BAGHDAD: Eleven protesters died on Friday while setting fire to the headquarters of a powerful armed faction in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah, a security source told AFP. The fire at the Badr organization’s offices was the deadliest incident yet on Friday, when anti-government rallies resumed across the country. The Iraqi Human Rights Commission said another 30 demonstrators died and more than 2,000 were wounded by gunfire and tear gas in protests in Baghdad and the country’s south. Security forces used tear gas and an Iranian-backed militia opened fire to try to quell renewed demonstrations against corruption and economic hardship, security sources said. A government intelligence officer and a member of the powerful Asaib Ahl Al-Haq militia were killed in a clash with protesters in the southern city of Amara, police sources said. Nearly 1,800 people were injured nationally as demonstrators took to the streets to vent frustration at political elites they say have failed to improve their lives after years of conflict. "All we want are four things: jobs; water, electricity, and safety. That"s all we want," said 16-year-old Ali Mohammed who had covered his face with a T-shirt to avoid inhaling tear gas, as chaotic scenes overwhelmed Baghdad"s central Tahrir Square. Sirens wailed and tear gas canisters landed in the middle of groups of young protesters wearing Iraqi flags and chanting "with life and blood we defend you Iraq." The bloodshed is the second major bout of violence this month. A series of clashes two weeks ago between protesters and security forces left 157 people dead and over 6,000 wounded. The unrest has broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq, which lived through foreign occupation, civil war and a Daesh insurgency between 2003 and 2017. It is the biggest challenge to security since Daesh was declared beaten. Interior Ministry spokesman Khalid Al-Muhanna said at least 68 members of the security forces had also been injured. The government has struggled to address popular grievances since sometimes violent demonstrations erupted in Baghdad on Oct. 1, spreading to southern cities, in protest at what many see as a corrupt and incompetent political establishment. The unrest has posed the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi since he took office just one year ago. Despite promising reforms and a broad cabinet reshuffle, the premier has so far struggled to address protesters" discontent. One in five people lives in poverty in Iraq and youth unemployment sits around 25 percent, according to the World Bank. The rates are staggering for OPEC"s second-biggest oil producer, which Transparency International ranks as the 12th most corrupt state in the world. Iraq"s highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani had set Friday as the deadline for Abdel Mahdi to respond to demonstrators" demands. In a much-awaited sermon, Al-Sistani"s representative urged protesters and security forces to show "restraint," warning of "chaos" if violence broke out again. His sermon appeared to echo the package of reforms put forward by Abdel Mahdi, including an anti-corruption campaign, a job creation drive and improved social welfare. But demonstrators did not appear impressed. "Adel Abdel Mahdi is lying to us," protesters shouted in Baghdad, just hours after the premier"s televised appearance in which he defended his reform agenda. "They are all liars - they lie when they promise us jobs and when we protest, they fire tear gas at us!" shouted another. Security forces unleashed tear gas canisters on Friday to disperse thousands of protesters around Baghdad"s high-security Green Zone, which hosts government offices and embassies. But the real test was to be later in the afternoon, when many were expecting supporters of Moqtada Al-Sadr - an influential cleric who controls the largest parliamentary bloc - to hit the streets. His supporters have breached the Green Zone in previous years. This week, he called on them to protest and even instructed members of his own paramilitary force to be on "high alert". They could be seen in parts of Baghdad on Friday in a clear show of force. The movement is unprecedented in recent Iraqi history both because of its spontaneity and independence, and because of the brutal violence with which a torrent of protests on October 1-6 was met. At least 157 people were killed, according to a government probe published on Tuesday, which acknowledged that "excessive force" was used. A vast majority of them were protesters in Baghdad, with 70 percent shot in the head or chest. Some have backed the government, including the powerful Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary force whose political branch is the second-largest parliamentary bloc. And Iraq"s mostly-Kurdish north and Sunni west have stayed out of the protests. Iraq has been ravaged by decades of conflict that finally calmed in 2017 with a declared victory over Daesh. Thus began a period of relative calm, with security forces lifting checkpoints and concrete blast walls and traffic choking city streets at hours once thought too dangerous. Restrictions had even softened around the Green Zone but were reinstated as the October demonstrations picked up in Tahrir Square, which lies just across the Tigris River. Authorities also imposed an internet blackout, which has been mostly lifted although social media remains blocked.