15 killed in Baghdad clashes as protests escalate

BAGHDAD - Clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters killed at least 15 people in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood, police and medics said on Monday, raising the toll from nearly a week of violence to at least 110 people.

On videos distributed on social media of the late-night rally, protesters ducked in streets littered with burning tires as heavy gunfire was heard.

In a statement distributed to journalists on Monday morning, the Iraqi military said Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi had ordered "all army units to withdraw from Sadr City to be replaced with federal police units".