Hundreds of students of Mosul University have been on strike for the fourth consecutive day to show solidarity with protesters in Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces.
According to a follow-up conducted by KirkukNow, there is a presence for students the university campus, yet they refuse to attend classes.
"Boycotting classes is the least thing which Mosul University students can do to support protesters who have been on the streets for the past 12 days to demand an overhaul of the country’s political system," said 19-year-old student, Rahaf Abdul-Baqi.
"If Mosul residents are banned from participating in demonstrations for fear of being accused of Islamic State (IS) affiliation, at least we can launch a civil disobedience movement to fight corruption," Rahaf told KirkukNow.
The unrest in Baghdad and several southern provinces began in early October, with Iraqis protesting high unemployment and the government’s inability to deliver basic services and repair crumbling infrastructure. So far more than 260 protesters have died and thousands more were injured.
On Monday, Iraqi authorities shut down access to Internet services in all Iraqi provinces except the Kurdistan region, in an attempt to curb the growing scale of protests.
A Mosul university lecturer who declined to disclose her name, speaking to KirkukNow, said, “the teaching staff at the university are backing the students’ decision to boycott classes in support of the protesters.”
Iraqi demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the government, the enactment of a new constitution for the country, which has been ranked 12th in the list of most corrupt countries in the world.
