BASRA, Iraq • A sense of calm returned to Iraq’s southern city of Basra on Sunday after a week of violent protests over unemployment and poor public services that left at least 15 people dead and threatened stability in the oil-rich region.

Troops sent from Baghdad have reinforced police, and government offices and markets reopened after a quiet night. Municipality workers were out in force cleaning up the streets and carting away debris from the clashes.

Governor Asaad al-Aidani said the provincial government has found new offices to work from, after angry demonstrators burned most government buildings in the city this week. He said it would take at least five weeks, however, to supply the city center with potable water, after a rash of stomach illnesses fueled unrest in the oil-rich region.

Basra and other cities in Iraq’s southern Shiite heartland have been convulsed by the most serious protests in years, with residents complaining of power outages, filthy tap water and soaring unemployment.

In recent days, protesters have attacked government offices, political party headquarters and the Iranian consulate. Many blame their woes on neighboring Iran’s outsized influence on Iraqi politics and are calling for radical change.

On Saturday, a spokesman for an alliance of powerful Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran, vowed to respond against “those who are carrying out acts of arson and sabotage.” The local commander, known as Abu Yasser al-Jaafari, said the lack of response thus far should not be taken as a sign of weakness.

Iraqi security forces stand guard at a checkpoint in Basra, Iraq, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018. Iraqi security forces deployed on the streets of Basra on Saturday, a day after protesters in the southern city stormed the Iranian consulate and torched government buildings in violence that rocked the oil-exporting Shiite heartland and sparked alarm across a conflict-weary country. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

the associated press