Several protesters were killed and dozens more injured after military and security forces opened fire on crowds during ongoing protests in the city of Eslamabad-e Gharb (Shabad) in Kermanshah Province, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has reported.
Witness accounts and local reports indicate that military and security forces used live ammunition and pellet guns against protesters across the city.
Unverified information suggests that a number of demonstrators were killed on 8 January after being shot by forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
KHRN has received the names of some of those reportedly killed. However, due to the widespread disruption of internet and telephone services and the inability to confirm the information through independent sources, KHRN is currently withholding their identities.
Among the injured is Amirali Jalilian, a 65-year-old Kurdish citizen, who was critically wounded on 8 January after being struck by dozens of pellet gunshots to his head and body. He has remained in a coma in the intensive care unit of Eslamabad-e Gharb Hospital since the shooting.
Sources have also reported that security agencies have exerted pressure on Jalilian’s family, urging them to blame Kurdish opposition parties for the shooting.
Additionally, KHRN has received reports that military and security forces have repeatedly raided Eslamabad-e Gharb Hospital since the protests began, particularly on 8 January, in an apparent effort to detain injured protesters.
In response, many families are said to have secretly removed wounded individuals, and in some cases the bodies of those killed, from the hospital to prevent them from falling into the hands of regime forces.