Thousands of people in at least eight different cities under the government of Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq in December went on the streets to protest against their unpaid salaries and the widespread governmental corruption. In the course of the protests offices of five mayor parties in the region were attacked with stones, stormed and, in some cases, burned to the ground.
Following the protests waged by civil servants in Sulaymaniyah, demanding their long-overdue salaries and denouncing governmental corruption, on the 18th of December, the protest quickly spread. On the 19th, the protest engulfed at-least 8 cities. In Koysinjaq demonstrators set fire to the mayor’s offices. In Kifri hundreds stormed the offices of Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party after attacking it with stones. The protests were only quelled after a massive wave of arrests and after at least seven protesters were shot dead by police.
Governmental corruption and nepotism are wide-spread problems in the area, as the imperialists activity encourage them and the Barzani-Clan heading the Kurdish Regional Government. Only in September, one Barzani stepped down in favor of another. Their armed force, the Peshmerga, received massive support by German imperialism in 2016 and 17, handing over 2.000 assault rifles, sending instructors to Erbil and flying Peshmerga soldiers to Germany for their training in Bavaria.
