Protest outside Kuwait consulate in Iraq's Basra over fisherman's killing

BASRA, Iraq — Demonstrators gathered outside the Kuwaiti consulate building in Basra on Sunday afternoon to protest the killing of an Iraqi fisherman by Kuwaiti coast guard forces several days earlier. Footage showed a crowd on the Shatt al-Arab waterfront in front of the consulate, with riot police deployed in heavy numbers. The protest was called after the killing of Nejm Abdullah Khalid, a fisherman from Basra. Demonstrators demanded protection for Iraqi fishermen operating in the area. Separately, a group of detained fishermen — Hasan Khalid Hasan, Jaafar Hasan Abdul-Azra, Majid Mohammed Khalid, and Taiyir Mohammed Salman, who was wounded in the head — reached Basra on Thursday through the Safwan border crossing, according to the report. On Saturday, Iraq's Foreign Ministry said Kuwaiti authorities had shared footage of the incident and stated that the shooting was not intentional. Issues between Iraq and Kuwait, including the arrest of fishermen, the demarcation of the maritime border and navigation agreements, have periodically caused tensions between the two countries. No further details on the consulate protest or any official Kuwaiti response were immediately available.