Iran’s security forces fired their guns indiscriminately into the streets to suppress anti-regime protesters, killing innocent bystanders in the process, witnesses said.
Despite the nationwide internet blackout in Iran, reports have emerged of the regime’s brutality during the weeks-long protests that erupted on Dec. 28, with one mother telling Reuters that security forces shot her 16-year-old daughter in the heart as they watched a protest in Tehran.
“I was there that night. The security forces opened fire on people. They killed my child,” the grieving mother said.
The woman, who only identified herself as Manijeh, said she was out with her teenage daughter on Jan. 8 when they were watching protesters calling for change in Tehran.
The protesters were quickly met by security forces on motorcycles, with witnesses likening the following events to a war zone where officers fired their weapons at the rallygoers.
Manijeh said she ran with her daughter and hid behind a car as gunfire roared, with the mother and child eventually separated in the chaos.
“I searched street after street, screaming her name,” Manijeh recounted, sobbing during the call with Reuters. “She was gone.”
Two days later, Manijeh and her family found the 16-year-old in a black body bag at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre, in south Tehran, with officials claiming that “terrorists” had killed the girl.
While Iranian officials have claimed that the mounting deaths during the protests were the fault of “rioters,” “terrorists,” and foreign influence, the accounts from witnesses tell a different story.
One Tehran resident said he was walking with his friend, who he identified as 22-year-old art student Arash, when they were caught up in a protest crackdown at Vanak Square.
In the chaos, the friend said he watched as security officials blasted Arash with a shotgun shell, instantly killing the college student.
Another man who identified himself only as Masoud, 38, said his 43-year-old brother was killed while trying to shelter teenage protesters running away from security forces.
One family in the northern city of Rasht alleged that security forces stormed the apartment of their 33-year-old daughter who was watching a protest from her window.
“They smashed doors, cursing and yelling. They detained her. We don’t know where she is,” her brother said.
“My sister’s two young children cry for her. Her husband has been warned of arrest if he keeps searching for her,” he added.
As of Wednesday, the death toll from the protests has grown to at least 4,519 people, US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The count includes 4,251 protesters, 197 security personnel, 35 people aged under 18 and 38 bystanders, according to the group.
With Post wires
