At least 21 people have been killed in Iraq as police fired live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas during a fresh wave of anti-government protests.

Dozens more were also injured as the demonstrations resumed on Friday after a three-week hiatus, security officials said.

Thousands of people began converging at Baghdad’s central Tahrir Square early in the day.

The demonstrators, mostly young, unemployed men, carried Iraqi flags and chanted anti-government protests, demanding jobs, water and electricity.

Security forces and government officials had vowed to avoid further deadly violence ahead of the protests and deployed heavily on the streets of Baghdad in anticipation.

Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Show all 17 1 /17 Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters take cover behind a barricade on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on 25 October, 2019. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Protesters push down concrete walls during a protest over corruption, lack of jobs, and poor services, in Baghdad. Reuters Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Anti-government protesters try to break into the provincial council building during a demonstration in Basra. AP Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi women protesters march with national flags during an anti-government demonstration in the central holy shrine city of Najaf. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire An Iraqi protester uses a mobile phone to take a selfie photo with an army soldier standing atop a humvee during a demonstration outside the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters gather during an anti-government demonstration at the burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters wave a national flag as they stand atop the gatehouse to the local government headquarters in the southern city of Basra. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire An Iraqi protester throws back a tear gas canister fired by security forces amid clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters carry away an injured protester following clashes during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi security forces stand guard on Al-Jumhuriya Bridge during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration in central Baghdad. AP Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire The burning local government headquarters in Nasiriyah, the capital of Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Protesters take cover behind a concrete barricade during a demonstration in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi paramedics help injured protesters in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Iraqi protesters gather in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire An Iraqi protester takes cover between concrete barricades in Baghdad. AFP/Getty Iraq protests: Death toll soars as live rounds and tear gasfire Protesters take cover from teargas canisters fired by security forces in Baghdad. AFP/Getty

However, soldiers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds after thousands of protesters removed metal security barriers and crossed a bridge leading to Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the US embassy and Iraqi government offices.

Live rounds were then fired to push the protesters back after they tried to remove concrete barriers near the entrance to the Green Zone.

Security and hospital officials said eight people were killed, five of them in Baghdad and three in the southern province of Nasiriyah.

They said most of the deaths occurred as protesters were struck in the face by tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.

Hundreds of people were taken to hospitals, many with shortness of breath from the tear gas.

Elsewhere on Friday at least 3,000 protesters broke into the provincial government building in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah and set it on fire, according to police sources.

Six protesters were wounded in the southern city of Amara in Maysan province, when guards protecting the local office of Shi’ite militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haq opened fired, two security sources said.

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Protests also spread to the flashpoint city of Basra where about 4,000 people gathered near the provincial government building.

The protests began on 1 October over corruption, unemployment and a lack of basic services but quickly turned deadly as security forces cracked down, using live ammunition for days.

The unrest then spread to several, mainly Shiite-populated, southern provinces and authorities imposed a curfew and shut down the internet for days in an effort to quell the unrest.

After one week of violence in the capital and the country’s southern provinces, a government-appointed inquiry determined that security forces had used excessive force, killing 149 people and wounding more than 3,000.

It also recommended the firing of security chiefs in Baghdad and the south. Eight members of the security forces were also killed.