Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s move comes after call for change of leadership from top cleric

The Iraqi prime minister has announced his resignation after the country’s top Shia Muslim cleric called for lawmakers to reconsider their support for a government rocked by weeks of deadly anti-establishment unrest.

“In response to this call, and in order to facilitate it as quickly as possible, I will present to parliament a demand [to accept] my resignation from the leadership of the current government,” a statement signed by Adel Abdul-Mahdi said.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of Baghdad on Friday under clouds of teargas to demand the removal of the elected government in the biggest protest movement in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The city’s Tahrir Square was a chaotic scene of flag-waving demonstrators battling with security forces, while tuk-tuks ferried off wounded dissenters as riot police fired teargas.

Amnesty International this week accused Iraqi security chiefs of using military grade teargas – up to 10 times more powerful than that typically used for crowd control – to try to quell the unrest

• ‘Fear factor is broken’: protesters demand removal of Iraqi government

At least 18 people were killed and thousands injured in the holy city and pilgrimage site of Kerbala in Iraq, in one of the deadliest single attacks on protesters since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier this month. Unidentified masked gunmen fired live rounds and teargas at protesters.

Protests that have gripped the country since 1 October were nflamed in the past week as university and high-school students joined demonstrators in Baghdad

•  Iraq's young protesters count cost of a month of violence

At least 18 people killed and hundreds injured as anti-government protests continue

Masked gunmen have opened fire on Iraqi protesters in the Shia holy city of Karbala, killing at least 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks on protesters since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier this month.

The attack, which happened overnight, came as Iraqis took to the streets for a fifth consecutive day, protesting against corruption, lack of services and other grievances.

Hundreds refuse to leave Tahrir square in Baghdad despite further deadly clashes with security forces

Hundreds of Iraqi protesters remained in Baghdad’s central Tahrir square on Sunday, defying a bloody crackdown that killed scores and an overnight raid by security forces seeking to disperse them.

Young men had erected barricades on a bridge leading to the capital’s fortified Green Zone between them and security forces who continued to lob tear gas canisters towards them.