Iraqi protesters storm provincial government building in Karbala

Protesters stormed the provincial government building in the Iraqi city of Karbala on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.

Protests over poor government services and corruption, which had spread to the Shi'ite holy city on Saturday, entered their sixth consecutive day in several cities in Iraq's southern provinces.

Iraq’s interior ministry has announced a nationwide state of high security alert in response to ongoing protests in the country’s southern provinces over poor government services and corruption.

Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent reported power outages in the entire province of Najaf late on Saturday and that security forces have declared a curfew.