One dead as security forces fire on protesters in Iran's Mahabad: rights group

Iranian security forces shot dead a Kurdish man during protests over Mahsa Amini's death in the western city of Mahabad on Thursday, the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights said.

"A young Kurdish man was killed by direct fire from Iranian security forces," Hengaw, a Norway-based group, said on Twitter. "This young man was shot in the forehead."

Shaho Khzri, a young Kurdish man from Mahabad, was killed by direct fire from the Iranian security forces during the protests after the burial ceremony of Esmaeil Mauludi.#ZhinaAmini #MahsaAmini #Kurdistan #Mahabad pic.twitter.com/RWpg5yI5QG

— Hengaw Organization for Human Rights (@Hengaw_English) October 27, 2022

Hengaw said government forces had opened fire on people in the Gomrok neighbourhood of Mahabad, in West Azerbaijan province, after one of the city's police stations was surrounded.

"We should not mourn for our youth, we should avenge them," the protesters chanted, according to the rights group.

The deadly gunfire came after mourners paying tribute to Ismail Mauludi, a 35-year-old protester killed on Wednesday night, left his funeral and made their way towards the governor's office, it said.

Protests have gripped Iran since Amini, a 22-year-old of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest in Tehran by the notorious morality police for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women.

The rallies have been led by young women who have burned their headscarves and confronted security forces, in the biggest wave of unrest to rock Iran for years.