Amnesty International (AI) fears that at least ten people, including children, were killed on Friday in Iran after security forces opened fire on a group of protesters in Sistan and Baluchestan province.
«Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the renewed bloodshed following the Internet outage and reports that more security forces have been sent from Zahedan to Khash,» it said on the official profile of its account in the country.
According to footage and eyewitness accounts received from Khash provinces in Sistan and Balochistan, security forces have been firing ammunition at «peaceful protesters» from the rooftops of the governor’s office and other buildings since 2 p.m. local time, said AI, which has posted a video of the events.
Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan, is one of the epicenters of protests against the Iranian authorities that erupted almost two months ago over the death in custody of young Mahsa Amini, initially arrested for improperly wearing the veil.
Shiite cleric and imam Sayad Shahraki of the Mulay Motaqian mosque was shot dead on Friday by a group of armed men in the eastern city of Zahedan, as confirmed by the provincial police chief, Sardar Ahmad Taheri, who explained that he was assaulted by a group of men in a vehicle.
Shahraki, one of the main representatives of the Shiite community in a mainly Sunni and Baloch city, was shot in the head and chest. His assailants fled and the medical services could do nothing to save his life, according to the police chief in statements reported by the Iranian reformist news portal Entejab.
Zahedan was the scene of a violent crackdown on September 30 in which security forces killed 92 people, including 12 children, according to civil organizations. Protests in the city began first over the June rape of a Baloch girl by a police officer and subsequently spilled over into the death of Amini on September 16.
Four members of the security forces were also killed on September 30, known as Zahedan’s Black Friday, which led to the immediate dismissal of its security officials for excessive force against protesters.
